Liverpool have landed two midfielders perfectly fit for their system in Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, according to Reds legend John Barnes.

Jurgen Klopp secured the services of Mac Allister for a reported initial £35million from Brighton and Hove Albion, while Szoboszlai arrived from RB Leipzig for £60m (€69m) ahead of the 2023-24 season.

The pair will likely be utilised as multi-functional midfielders, adding energy to an ageing Liverpool midfield, which is expected to lose Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to Saudi Arabia.

Having initially played as a winger before moving to a central role, Barnes believes the versatility of Mac Allister and Szoboszlai makes the duo a tailormade fit for Klopp's men.

"Last season I think it was fairly apparent that we needed midfield players," Barnes told Stats Perform. "Of course, what you do is you use every opportunity to get who you can.

"So, in the strikers that we've got, I think that bodes well for the future. But I think you can see that we were a little bit short in midfield from an age perspective but also from a quality and intensity perspective.

"We knew we were going to lose two or three midfield players, so they are welcome additions to the squad from a positional point of view and also from the quality point of view too."

Mac Allister was also the only player to average two-plus shots (2.68), two-plus tackles (2.18) and 50+ passes (56.2) per 90 minutes in last term's Premier League, among players with 1,000 or more minutes.

That all-round approach and energetic demeanour makes the 24-year-old a suitable fit for Klopp's high-pressing philosophy, in the opinion of Barnes.

"It's not all about what impresses me, but he's the type of player who will suit our style," Barnes said of Mac Allister, who hit 10 league goals for Brighton last term.

"He may not be able to play for Manchester City but that doesn't mean he's better or worse. It's just that we have to sign players that suit our style and are hardworking all-action midfield players.

"He's not a Bernardo Silva type, but he suits what we want. Liverpool have always done that and looked to get players who suit their system, regardless of how other good other people think they are, or not.

"He suits our midfield profile and the template of a midfield player that we want. Hardworking, aggression and playing the ball forward quickly. He suits our style perfectly."

While Mac Allister impressed for Brighton and also Argentina during their triumphant World Cup campaign in Qatar, Szoboszlai arrives as a lesser-known star on English soil.

The Hungary international again fits Klopp's criteria for free-flowing aggressive football, having been involved in 163 open play shot-ending sequences in last season's Bundesliga – 49 shots, 48 chances created, 66 in the build-up – the fourth-highest figure of any player.

Barnes added: "I haven't seen much of him. But once again, you look at him in terms of his size, his aggression, his ability to get up and down.

"And once again, I trust in Jurgen Klopp and the staff to know exactly what they want. Not many people have heard of him, I'm one who didn't hear of him but they would have done their homework on him.

"So I have faith in them because they know the type of player they want. As I said, I haven't seen much of him but he seems to be quite impressive."

Jurgen Klopp insists he does not need a break from Premier League management following a disappointing campaign with Liverpool.

The Reds missed out on Champions League qualification after finishing outside the top four for the first time in a full season under the German.

Sunday’s thrilling 4-4 draw at relegated Southampton stretched Liverpool’s unbeaten top-flight run to 11 games but the late resurgence was not enough to make up for earlier poor results.

Klopp, the division’s longest-serving manager, maintains he is “full of energy” and ready to revive the club’s fortunes going into the summer.

Asked if he needs time off, the Reds boss replied: “No, no, no, not at all. Honestly, I’m completely fine.

“If you’d asked me 11 games ago, ‘do you want to have a break?’, I would have thought about it, to be honest.

“But I’m absolutely fine, full of energy.

“I have a break – I don’t have training and these kind of things. But a really busy period hopefully starts now in a different area of the game. I’m more than happy to do that.

“I will find time to reenergise and then we start again in July.”

Liverpool’s fifth-placed finish was their lowest since they finished eighth in 2015-16 – the season during which Klopp replaced Brendan Rodgers at Anfield.

The Reds looked destined to sign off this term in style following early strikes from Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino at St Mary’s.

But quick-fire second-half finishes from substitute Cody Gakpo and Jota were required to avoid a major shock after Kamaldeen Sulemana’s double and goals from James Ward-Prowse and Adam Armstrong turned a chaotic contest in Southampton’s favour.

Klopp believes his club has stuck together during some difficult moments and is determined that they regain a fear factor for rival sides.

“There is not a lot to learn (from the season) but a lot of clubs when the expectations are as high as ours when things don’t go well pretty quickly you start blaming each other,” he said. “That didn’t happen here.

“The better you behave in a crisis, the better you get out of it – and I really thought that was the case for us.

“We’re really, really not happy about it and for a club like us it’s massive not to qualify for the Champions League.

“If we improve, we are all of a sudden again a team nobody wants to play against and that’s what we have to become again.

“There were a lot of games in the season where I think teams were happy to face us. That’s actually the worst thing that can happen to you and I hated these moments. But that’s over and now let’s start again.”

Southampton are preparing for life in the Sky Bet Championship following an exhilarating end to a dismal season.

Saints manager Ruben Selles, who will leave the club and is likely be replaced by Swansea boss Russell Martin, conducted a performance review ahead of his departure.

“We discussed the points we can do better, the points we need to hold,” said the Spaniard.

“We needed to end in a professional way and that’s not a discussion because it’s not about us as a technical staff, it’s about Southampton and the information we can pass to the future people working here is key in not repeating the same mistakes.

“If they find themselves in the same situations that we did, at least they have this footage and experience of what we did.

“We did our review as a technical staff together. We got some conclusions for us and somebody will present it in the proper place to present it.

“It’s not for us to decide for the future but it is for us to say what we think can be different next season.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits his side failed to live up to expectations this season and has no issue with Mohamed Salah saying the team let down fans.

Writing on social media after Manchester United’s win over Chelsea on Thursday night consigned Liverpool to Europa League football, the Egypt international said he was “devastated” and there was “absolutely no excuse” for not making the top four.

Klopp had already resigned himself to not playing Champions League next season and admits he even thought fifth place was out of reach prior to their current 10-match unbeaten run, which includes seven victories.

“It was a just a normal description of his situation, of his feeling, and in that moment directly after the game he’s right, it’s not the moment to immediately send any optimistic messages,” said Klopp.

“But I saw him now in the canteen and he was smiling. I don’t know for which reason as I didn’t ask him, but he is not in a bad mood. That’s it.

“We didn’t deliver what everybody wanted or expected but but we are still really united, that’s the good thing about it.

“The dressing room is not in a bad mood. We have learned to deal with the situation. We didn’t get divided in one moment between manager and team, which is super helpful.

“For a long time and it was clear from a specific point on it would not be a historically good season. We made mistakes, we couldn’t deliver often enough and were not consistent enough.

“We didn’t point fingers at each other. That’s all good. If you don’t qualify for the Champions League, the best place you can possibly end up is fifth, so that’s what we did.

“If you’d have asked me 10 games ago if that was possible, I’d have said no. That the boys did that is really good but it’s not perfect.

“We didn’t end up fifth because of the last 10 games, we ended up there because of the lack of consistency before that.”

Failure to qualify for the Champions League is set to cost Liverpool at least £50million next season but there may be implications in the shorter term as UEFA’s second-tier competition is likely to be less attractive to leading players.

The club have already pulled out of the running for primary target Jude Bellingham after the asking price for the Borussia Dortmund midfielder became prohibitive and reports this week suggested Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount’s preferred destination is Old Trafford.

Klopp is keen to get his business done early and is hopeful finishing fifth will not put a spanner in the works of their planning.

“I don’t think so but we will see. That is obviously possible, it’s always possible things don’t go as quick as you want. It’s not only possible, it is probably likely,” he added ahead of Sunday’s final match of the season at Southampton.

“The better the players you want the lesser is the desire of the other club to let him go and that’s exactly what we are prepared for.

“But it’s a long window and a long pre-season and a long break in-between so we have time. If we get in players tomorrow or in six or seven weeks it is not a game-changer for me to be honest.

“In an ideal world they all sign tomorrow and I can tell them when to be and we can start giving them the plans for the summer break but that will not likely happen likely.”

Jurgen Klopp’s poor disciplinary record and his failure to heed previous conduct warnings were aggravating factors which led to the Liverpool manager receiving a two-match touchline ban for implying bias by referee Paul Tierney.

Klopp was fined £75,000 and will not be in the technical area for their final Premier League home game of the campaign against Aston Villa on Saturday but the second match of his punishment has been suspended until the end of next season.

The German admitted a charge of improper conduct in that his comments about Tierney implied bias, questioned the integrity of the referee and brought the game into disrepute.

Klopp, who was booked for celebrating in the face of fourth official John Brooks after Diogo Jota’s added-time goal in the 4-3 win over Tottenham last month, suggested in post-match interviews what Tierney had said to him in issuing the caution was “not OK” and went on to add “we have our story, history, with Mr Tierney. I really don’t know what this man has with us”.

The independent disciplinary commission, in its written reasons, said the Professional Game Match Officials Limited viewed Klopp’s comments as an “unwarranted attack on Mr Tierney’s integrity” and so immediately issued a statement in defence of the official.

Klopp later apologised, clarifying his words and denying he had questioned Tierney’s integrity and while that, and his letter to the commission, were deemed “considerable mitigation” it was his history which counted against him.

“Mr Klopp has a poor record for disciplinary offences, having appeared before commissions on three occasions in the past five years,” said the commission in its written reasons.

“In November 2022 in an appeal in which two members of the present commission sat, Mr Klopp received a touchline ban, a fine and a warning.

“Those sanctions plainly failed to deter Mr Klopp from committing nine similar breaches of the rules. Mr Klopp is a high-profile individual in the football world. He must have known that what he said would attract widespread publicity.

“He should have realised that it was incumbent on him to restrain himself and to behave properly.

“The statements that Mr Klopp made/adopted were not limited to comments on the immediate match, but extended to allegations of persistent bias against a blameless referee.

“The intense media interest that followed Mr Klopp’s remarks was highly damaging.”

Klopp created a problem for himself when he charged down the touchline following Jota’s goal after Tottenham’s 90th-minute equaliser had cancelled out Liverpool’s earlier 3-0 lead.

From evidence obtained from the officials’ audio, Brooks told Tierney “Jurgen Klopp has just run and celebrated in my face. I think it’s a yellow card mate, minimum”.

VAR backed up Brooks’ opinion and in booking Klopp, Tierney said: “I have to show you yellow… it could be red, but I am going to show you yellow. We will give you the benefit of the doubt, don’t do anything more.”

Those were the comments Klopp deemed “not OK” but it was not his behaviour on the pitch which produced the disciplinary charge but the aspersions he cast at Tierney, which he subsequently withdrew in a press conference a couple of days later and in a letter of apology to the commission.

Liverpool, in their own letter, stressed Klopp may have misunderstood Tierney and “they do not believe that Mr Tierney purposely gives decisions against LFC and that any suggestion that Mr Tierney was biased or not wholly impartial was totally unintended.

“Mr Klopp did not wish to suggest that Mr Tierney was dishonest, just that there were a long list of key decisions which he felt aggrieved by that have involved Mr Tierney.

“Both LFC and Jurgen Klopp regret that his comments have become a story in themselves and that there has been any question mark cast over Mr Tierney’s impartiality – that was not intended.”

Klopp spelled out his regret in his own letter, saying: “Although it was not my intention I accept now it appears that I was questioning Mr Tierney’s integrity. I take ownership of this. On reflection, the words I used were inappropriate.

“To be absolutely clear, I know that Mr Tierney, along with all other officials, do their work without any pre-conceived bias or prejudice.

“Although not an excuse, I believe we have made up a high percentage of Mr Tierney’s matches this season? Something in the region of 20 per cent of the matches he has officiated have involved my team.

“I do not offer this as a defence, rather it is an observation and could be a reason for both the build-up of frustration governed by an inadvertent accumulation of incidents over an extended period.”

Jurgen Klopp’s poor disciplinary record and his failure to heed previous conduct warnings were aggravating factors which led to the Liverpool manager receiving a two-match touchline ban for implying bias by referee Paul Tierney.

Klopp was fined £75,000 and will not be in the technical area for their final Premier League home game of the campaign against Aston Villa on Saturday but the second match of his punishment has been suspended until the end of next season.

The German admitted a charge of improper conduct in that his comments about Tierney implied bias, questioned the integrity of the referee and brought the game into disrepute.

Klopp, who was booked for celebrating in the face of fourth official John Brooks after Diogo Jota’s added-time goal in the 4-3 win over Tottenham last month, suggested in post-match interviews what Tierney had said to him in issuing the caution was “not OK” and went on to add “we have our story, history, with Mr Tierney. I really don’t know what this man has with us”.

The independent disciplinary commission, in its written reasons, said the Professional Game Match Officials Limited viewed Klopp’s comments as an “unwarranted attack on Mr Tierney’s integrity” and so immediately issued a statement in defence of the official.

Klopp later apologised, clarifying his words and denying he had questioned Tierney’s integrity and while that, and his letter to the commission, were deemed “considerable mitigation” it was his history which counted against him.

“Mr Klopp has a poor record for disciplinary offences, having appeared before commissions on three occasions in the past five years,” said the commission in its written reasons.

“In November 2022 in an appeal in which two members of the present commission sat, Mr Klopp received a touchline ban, a fine and a warning.

“Those sanctions plainly failed to deter Mr Klopp from committing nine similar breaches of the rules. Mr Klopp is a high-profile individual in the football world. He must have known that what he said would attract widespread publicity.

“He should have realised that it was incumbent on him to restrain himself and to behave properly.

“The statements that Mr Klopp made/adopted were not limited to comments on the immediate match, but extended to allegations of persistent bias against a blameless referee.

“The intense media interest that followed Mr Klopp’s remarks was highly damaging.”

Klopp created a problem for himself when he charged down the touchline following Jota’s goal after Tottenham’s 90th-minute equaliser had cancelled out Liverpool’s earlier 3-0 lead.

From evidence obtained from the officials’ audio, Brooks told Tierney “Jurgen Klopp has just run and celebrated in my face. I think it’s a yellow card mate, minimum”.

VAR backed up Brooks’ opinion and in booking Klopp, Tierney said: “I have to show you yellow… it could be red, but I am going to show you yellow. We will give you the benefit of the doubt, don’t do anything more.”

Those were the comments Klopp deemed “not OK” but it was not his behaviour on the pitch which produced the disciplinary charge but the aspersions he cast at Tierney, which he subsequently withdrew in a press conference a couple of days later and in a letter of apology to the commission.

Liverpool, in their own letter, stressed Klopp may have misunderstood Tierney and “they do not believe that Mr Tierney purposely gives decisions against LFC and that any suggestion that Mr Tierney was biased or not wholly impartial was totally unintended.

“Mr Klopp did not wish to suggest that Mr Tierney was dishonest, just that there were a long list of key decisions which he felt aggrieved by that have involved Mr Tierney.

“Both LFC and Jurgen Klopp regret that his comments have become a story in themselves and that there has been any question mark cast over Mr Tierney’s impartiality – that was not intended.”

Klopp spelled out his regret in his own letter, saying: “Although it was not my intention I accept now it appears that I was questioning Mr Tierney’s integrity. I take ownership of this. On reflection, the words I used were inappropriate.

“To be absolutely clear, I know that Mr Tierney, along with all other officials, do their work without any pre-conceived bias or prejudice.

“Although not an excuse, I believe we have made up a high percentage of Mr Tierney’s matches this season? Something in the region of 20 per cent of the matches he has officiated have involved my team.

“I do not offer this as a defence, rather it is an observation and could be a reason for both the build-up of frustration governed by an inadvertent accumulation of incidents over an extended period.”

Jurgen Klopp has been given a two-match touchline ban over comments he made about referee Paul Tierney following Liverpool’s win over Tottenham in April.

The Football Association meted out the suspension after Klopp admitted his comments, in which he accused Tierney of bearing a grudge against his team, questioned the integrity of the referee, implied bias and brought the game into disrepute.

The Liverpool manager, who has also been fined £75,000, was booked in added time of his team’s 4-3 win against Spurs at Anfield for sprinting up to the face of the fourth official whilst celebrating Diogo Jota’s dramatic late winner.

The first game of the ban is to be served immediately whilst the second is suspended until the end of next season pending future conduct.

An FA statement read: “Jurgen Klopp has been suspended from the touchline for two matches and fined £75,000 following media comments that he made after Liverpool’s Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday 30 April 2023.

“The first match of the manager’s touchline ban is effective immediately and the second is suspended until the end of the 2023/24 season on the condition that he does not commit any further breaches of FA Rule E3 in the meantime.

“(He) admitted that his comments regarding the match referee during post-match media interviews constitute improper conduct as they imply bias, question the integrity of the referee, are personal, offensive, and bring the game into disrepute.”

Klopp had just watched Liverpool snatch a stunning win over Spurs just minutes after allowing the visitors to complete a late comeback from 3-0 down.

In his post-match press conference, he said: “How they can give a foul on Mohamed Salah (just before Spurs’ third goal)? We have our history with Tierney. I really don’t know what he has against us.

“He has said there is no problems but that cannot be true. How he looks at me, I don’t understand it. My celebration was unnecessary, which is fair, but what he said to me when he gave me the yellow card is not OK.”

Jurgen Klopp can help convince top transfer targets to sign for Liverpool even if they are not in the Champions League next season, according to former Reds striker Ian Rush.

Liverpool have won their last seven games and currently sit fifth, just a point behind Newcastle and Manchester United, who both have matches in hand.

However, even if Liverpool can continue their impressive run and beat Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday and then finish the campaign with another victory at relegated Southampton, there would be no guarantee of Champions League football again.

There is set to be a turnover of personnel this summer, with the likes of James Milner, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Roberto Firmino all leaving

Brighton’s Argentinian World Cup-winner Alexis Mac Allister is one potential transfer target, as well as Chelsea’s Mason Mount and Ryan Gravenberch at Bayern Munich.

Rush feels even if Liverpool do end up not being able to offer Champions League football next season, Reds boss Klopp will still be able to sell a switch to Anfield.

“They had a bit of a lapse, every team has one. To win seven games on the run is like they are back to where they were when they won the league,” Rush told the PA news agency.

“Whether they get the Champions League spot or not, that is a different matter, but all Liverpool can do is win their next two games. If they do, they finish the season on a high.

“If you end up in the Europa League and can go on to win it, then you are going to be back in the Champions League.

“If you don’t make the Champions League, then you go and look to improve the team through the summer.

“I am sure Liverpool will want to do that. You have got to sign players to keep everyone on their toes.”

Rush, who is supporting Soccer Aid for UNICEF, added: “When you are signing players, it does help when your team is in the Champions League, because all the top players want to play there.

“Klopp, though, is a fantastic manager and he is in a position to change a player’s mind.

“He can say ‘listen, you want to come to Liverpool and while you will not be in the Champions League this year, we want to make you a superstar for all these fantastic fans and build a team around you’.

“He did that exactly when you look at (Virgil) Van Dijk – he could have gone to Chelsea and Manchester City were interested, but Klopp sold Liverpool to him. That is what Klopp is good at.”

While Liverpool remain in the hunt to qualify for the Champions League – a competition they won in 2019 and finished runners-up in last year – they have fallen well behind in the title race this season.

But despite a current 20-point gap to leaders Manchester City – who have overhauled Arsenal and look set to win the title for a fifth time in the past six seasons – Rush is confident the Reds can recover to mount a serious challenge once more.

“I think it is breachable,” said Rush, Liverpool’s all-time leading scorer with 346 goals in 660 appearances during a trophy-laden career.

“Liverpool have got a strong squad. It is about keeping everyone fit and I am sure they will make some additions.

“Then at the start of the new season, if everyone is well, then I am sure Manchester City will be keeping an eye on Liverpool as one of the danger teams and they will be in the mix.”

This year’s Soccer Aid event will take place on June 11 at Old Trafford and Rush is expecting another memorable occasion.

“It is for a great cause and everyone is competitive. It doesn’t matter whatever they do – actors or ex-players – all they want is for the team to win,” the former Wales striker said.

:: Tickets for Soccer Aid For UNICEF on Sunday 11th June 2023 at Old Trafford, are on sale via www.socceraid.org.uk/tickets with a family of four able to attend for just £60 — two adults and two children

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is confident his side can close the gap to Manchester City next season.

Wild inconsistencies in results – beating Manchester United 7-0 and Bournemouth 9-0 but losing to struggling Leeds, their only home defeat of the season – had left the Reds 20 points adrift of the Premier League leaders going into the weekend.

It has been more common for the two to push each other all the way to the final day of the season, Liverpool twice coming second by just a point, and despite their most recent troubles Klopp expects normal service to be resumed when the new campaign kicks off in August.

“There are two games a season, maybe with cups three, four or five, when you play City, Arsenal and the others,” he said ahead of the trip to struggling Leicester.

“There are five million ways to win a football game, you only have to find one. A successful season is you are ready for all the games, that you can win 25-odd games.

“If City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Tottenham, Man United are all involved in that 25 then it is even better.

“But it is about can we create a team who can win the majority of the games? Yes, we can. It was never about what the other teams do.

“We didn’t become champions by a point twice and there will be some people who say it was because we didn’t have this player in that moment.

“Getting 90-odd points is absolutely insane, pretty special, and no one should take these things for granted.

“The top seven get even closer together, it will be more difficult and more competitive.

“It doesn’t make it easier but everyone with a good idea has a chance to be part of it. If you are part of the battle up there then you can win it as well.”

Liverpool’s current six-match winning run, their best sequence for more than a year, has given a glimpse of the level the side used to – and Klopp believes will again – play at.

The Reds boss has spoken regularly in recent weeks about using the end to the campaign as a platform for next season and has been pleased with the way his squad have responded.

“We show it in six weeks. I’m happy that this question has come and you don’t ask me, ‘how is it you can play such rubbish football for so long?’,” he added.

“I never questioned these boys. Never. Mentality-wise these boys are exceptional but we still couldn’t deliver for long periods of the season consistently good, successful football.

“Is that normal for human beings? The period was a bit too long, but yes.

“For everyone it is a relief to go again, to be winning again in a convincing way and not (having to) scrap three points.

“We have a clear idea of what we want to do and I saw so many good things we could build on.

“Nothing for Match of the Day, it won’t show up there, but I saw so many things in these games.

“I’m absolutely fine with the reaction now but we all think it was a bit too long until we showed it.

“All we can do is go for the last three games and make the best of what we have so far.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits his side “were around when miracles happened”, but accepts their destiny is not in their hands this time when it comes to Champions League qualification.

A month ago the club were in eighth, 10 points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester United, but six successive victories have propelled them to fifth and only a point behind their rivals, who have a match in hand.

It was suggested to Klopp his squad have performed remarkable comebacks before, not least when overturning a 3-0 first-leg deficit to beat Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League they won in 2019.

They also came from a seemingly impossible position in the Premier League in 2021 when they they made a late run into the top four, registering eight wins and two draws in their final 10 matches – which included goalkeeper Alisson Becker scoring a 90th-minute winner at West Brom – having been completely out of the running in March.

“It is not that we mention it but everyone who was involved in these moments will never forget it in our entire lives,” said Klopp.

“That means it is part of us and, you are right, we were around when miracles happened, that is true, but it was then still in our hands.

“We had to score against West Brom and we had to win against Barcelona. Now we have to win but that does not mean anything changes because the other teams could win all their games.

“I knew weeks ago it was completely out of sight, I couldn’t see it at all, but that did not mean we would not try to get closer. That’s the only thing we did, we got closer.”

Klopp recalls Liverpool being in the position of the team being chased in his second full season in 2017-18, and he knows it is not easy for the clubs in possession of the qualification places.

However, he does not believe their recent run, coupled with recent defeats for third-placed Newcastle and United, has been able to exert that much pressure on their top-four rivals.

“I am pretty sure we were in a situation like that years ago. I think Chelsea was winning all the time behind us so we had to win all the games,” he said.

“It’s not comfortable but in the end we made it anyway. Newcastle and United would be happy if we would not be there any more, but still it is more likely they will do it.

“I respect that. If they finish the season above us, they deserve it and that’s how I see it.”

Forward Roberto Firmino is set to return to training next week ahead of what could be his final Anfield appearance.

The Brazil international is leaving when his contract expires at the end of the season but has missed the last five matches with a muscle problem.

With Liverpool having only one more home game, against Aston Villa next Saturday, there was a chance the 31-year-old would not get to say his goodbyes on the pitch.

But Klopp raised hopes Firmino could be in his squad for an emotional send-off.

“I saw Bobby in training yesterday and it looks like pretty much he is nearly there, but I don’t think he will be in for the weekend,” said the Reds manager.

“If I go out of here and he will be in the session, I would be surprised.

“I assume that we start with him team training-wise after the Leicester game.”

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has acknowledged managers like himself and Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp must be aware of their touchline behaviour, but conceded sometimes emotions do get the better of them.

Klopp was charged with improper conduct by the Football Association on Tuesday over his post-match comments about Paul Tierney after he insisted the referee “had history” with the club, having raced down the touchline to celebrate wildly in front of fourth official John Brooks following Liverpool’s stoppage-time winner in the 4-3 victory over Tottenham.

The German has until Friday to respond and this weekend’s visit of Brentford may end up being his last on the touchline if the FA decides to ban the 55-year-old, with Klopp having already served a one-match suspension in November for confronting assistant referee Gary Beswick in their win over Manchester City.

Frank said: “I think we all as managers need to think about how we present ourselves on the touchline and of course we need to be aware of that.

“I try my best but I am not perfect. I have also done things that afterwards I am thinking I should have done a little better there.

“We’re only humans and there is a lot of emotion and pressure in those situations.

“This situation, I don’t know. I don’t know what exactly happened. I guess it is up to Jurgen to explain.

“I think in general Jurgen is coming across very well and then there are some times where we are very emotional and we maybe make a mistake.

“As I said, I try my best but sometimes the emotions and the pressure over time just gets you.”

Bees boss Frank was otherwise full of praise for his opposite number ahead of Saturday’s trip to Anfield, where the visitors will eye an unlikely first ever double over Liverpool.

Last season Brentford suffered a 3-0 loss on Merseyside and their manager reflected on the strangeness of football that Klopp’s side were so close to an unprecedented quadruple in the 2022-23 campaign while now they are set to miss out on the top-four.

“Sometimes I try to get my head around that Liverpool last year were so close to the perfect season,” Frank said.

“They played every possible game they could and just missed out by a point in the league. And they played a Champions League final they should have won, they were unlucky. Now this year they are, in their terminology, struggling a little bit and that is only losing (Sadio) Mane.

“Football is so strange.

“I think the job they have done there over the last four or five seasons should have brought even more titles for them. I think they have been quite unlucky.”

Brentford beat Liverpool at home in January with Yoane Wissa on target, and the forward agreed a new deal with the west London club on Thursday to keep him there until 2026.

Frank said: “He’s a very important player. It is a privilege to have a player that we know can always provide goals.

“I think that is a very important skillset to have in the squad and then it is up to me to find and put the best players on the pitch.

“He is very, very good to work with and fantastic for the group, so I’m very pleased we managed to extend his contract.”

Mohamed Salah may be the man for consistency but fellow forward Darwin Nunez is the player who injects the element of unpredictability which is part of the evolution of Liverpool’s forward line.

Salah became the first player to score in eight successive home matches for the club with his penalty enough to secure a 1-0 victory over Fulham, making it five wins in a row and 12 goals in his last 16 games.

He was starting alongside Nunez and Luis Diaz, which at the start of the season was the expected first-choice forward line until the latter sustained a serious knee injury which sidelined him for six months.

As a result, the Fulham game was only the fifth time they had all begun a game together, but it was Nunez’s return to the starting line-up for the first time in half-a-dozen games which produced the key moment in the first half.

Having lost control 30 yards from goal, he set about regaining possession and nicked it back off Issa Diop inside the penalty area only for the defender to bring him down.

Manager Jurgen Klopp felt the spell among the substitutes helped reignite the Uruguay international, who was played through the middle as opposed to his more regular position out on the left in his maiden season.

“Darwin was like a racehorse, really motivated, really on fire,” said Klopp, who was particularly pleased with how the 23-year-old adapted to the vital counter-pressing role through the middle which has been performed so well by fellow new signing Cody Gakpo recently.

“Absolutely. I think for us it’s super-important. You could see in the beginning, defending the centre against Fulham is really important because Palhinha is there and that is their connector.

“We were a bit too early out there from Darwin, we tried to fix that, but he was like a racehorse – go, go, go, go for everybody.

“We opened up and that’s where we struggle slightly. We could sort that and apart from that he played a really good game, he was always a proper option for us and we needed that.”

But with only a slender lead to protect it was goalkeeper Alisson Becker who, not for the first time in this up and down season for the team, came up with the key moments to keep his first clean sheet in six matches with a good save from Carlos Vinicius.

The Brazil international has now made 100 saves in the current campaign, the first time he has reached triple figures in a single season since joining Liverpool.

“He is is for sure the most consistent player we have this season,” added Klopp.

“That’s actually not bad news, it’s good news, because if we are not in a great shape and the level of the goalie drops as well then we would have been completely lost. So, that’s fine.”

Sam Allardyce claimed he is as good a manager as Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta as he was unveiled as Leeds’ new boss on Wednesday.

Leeds have turned to former England manager Allardyce, 68, in a last-ditch bid to retain their Premier League status after sacking Javi Gracia with four games remaining.

Allardyce, relegated from the top flight for the first time in his 30-year managerial career in his last job at West Brom two years ago, said: “Far too many people think that I am old and antiquated, which is far from the truth.

“I might be 68 and old, but there’s nobody ahead of me in football terms. Not Pep, not Klopp, not Arteta.

“It’s all there with me. They do what they do, I do what I do. In terms of knowledge and depth of knowledge, I’m up there with them. I’m not saying I’m better than them, but certainly as good as they are.”

Former Bolton, Newcastle, West Ham and Everton boss Allardyce takes charge of his first game for Leeds at Guardiola’s title-chasing Manchester City on Saturday.

Having already removed director of football Victor Orta, Leeds announced the departure of Gracia on Wednesday morning along with his backroom staff.

Allardyce said: “I’ve had a lot of responses from many people that I know sending their congratulations. A few others said I must be mad.

“But I enjoy the game so much and to try and save this club and keep it in the Premier League is a big responsibility and a big challenge. But it’s one I’m prepared to take because of who Leeds are.”

Allardyce is the club’s third permanent manager of the season, with Gracia having replaced Jesse Marsch in February.

The former England boss is hoping for an immediate response from a demoralised squad who are languishing in 17th place, out of the relegation zone only on goal difference.

 

Sam Allardyce must find a way to keep Leeds up with only four matches remaining (Lynne Cameron/PA)

 

“It’s probably only the biggest challenge (of my career) because of the shortness of games that are left,” he said.

Allardyce is reported to have agreed a basic salary of £500,000 for his four games in charge, with a £2.5million bonus if he can keep Leeds up.

When asked if there was a chance he would stay at Elland Road beyond the remainder of this season, he said: “Never say never.

“It depends what happens at the end of the four matches and what the conversation is all about, how I feel and more importantly how my wife feels.”

Former MK Dons, Charlton and Oxford boss Karl Robinson will be Allardyce’s assistant and ex-Leeds striker Robbie Keane has also joined the backroom staff.

Allardyce had hoped to have been assisted by Sammy Lee, who is unavailable after being refused permission to cancel jury duty.

“The judge has left Sammy unemployed and wouldn’t let them off,” Allardyce added. “I think it’s very poor judgment indeed. It’s a real shame because he loves being with me and I love having him with me.”

After Allardyce’s first game at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, Leeds face Champions League hopefuls Newcastle at Elland Road the following week.

The final two games of the season are a trip to West Ham, one of Allardyce’s former clubs, and the visit of Tottenham, who are bidding to qualify for Europe.

Leeds have lost five of their last seven games, with Sunday’s 4-1 reverse at Bournemouth following 4-1, 5-1 and 6-1 defeats to Arsenal, Crystal Palace and Liverpool respectively last month.

On Sunday, fans’ group the Leeds United Supporters Advisory Board issued a vote of no confidence in both the club’s board and Gracia.

The players subsequently issued a statement on Monday apologising for their performance at Bournemouth and for failing to acknowledge fans at the team hotel.

Gracia leaves Leeds after only 11 league games in charge. The Spaniard collected 10 points from his first six fixtures, but a dreadful run of results in April left the club in a downward spiral.

Gracia said in a statement: “I’m grateful for this opportunity and proud of the team, both players and coaching staff. That’s how I would like to summarise my time at Leeds United.

“I would have preferred a different moment, but the circumstances have changed. We arrived on a short three-month contract, and we did it because we believed in this team.”

Liverpool can challenge for Premier League titles again but only if they back Jurgen Klopp in the transfer market, says former Reds defender Kolo Toure.

Since arriving at Anfield in 2015, Klopp's Liverpool have been hugely competitive both domestically and in Europe, winning the Premier League and Champions League while finishing runners-up in those competitions a combined four times.

But this season has been a far cry from those past successes, with Liverpool fighting to finish in the European places rather than competing for the Premier League title and crashing out of the Champions League at the round-of-16 stage.

The Reds splashed out over £100million on forwards Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo this season, but Toure believes Klopp must be provided with further spending power to freshen up the squad and get Liverpool back in silverware contention.

Speaking to Stats Perform, Toure said: "They have to look for somebody who has legs again and refresh the team, refresh the squad a little bit, bring in players who have the right mentality.

"They can go again because they have a top manager with them having Jurgen [Klopp], and [they have to] keep him there and make sure they sign the right players for him, then they will bounce again and go and fight for the Premier League, definitely."

Gakpo and Nunez have combined for just 15 Premier League goals this term as Liverpool have failed to keep up with title challengers Manchester City and Arsenal.

Toure feels the pair must do more to fit into Klopp's style of play, saying: "It's been a tough campaign for Liverpool, definitely, but every team goes in a cycle. When you sign players, sometimes they fit, sometimes they don't fit because of whatever reason, you don't know.

"He's signed a few players right now, [Cody] Gakpo and the other striker, [Darwin] Nunez and it's up to them to make sure they can fit in the team. Jurgen is such an incredible manager, he knows how he wants his team to play. But, when you sign players you expect them to fit in your team.

"At the moment, those players have to show that, they have to show more for the team. They haven't done that this season so well. Gakpo needed time to adapt, but he is looking to have the right chemistry in the team, and bringing in new players to refresh the team, to make sure the team can go again. This season will be a transition for them, but next season they're going to be better, definitely."

Liverpool's failure to live up to their past glories under Klopp has seen his job questioned by some, with the German himself saying last month his previous successes were the only reason he had not been sacked.

But Toure, who played under Klopp for one season at Anfield, says the former Borussia Dortmund coach still has more to extract from these players.

"In his time it feels like he has squeezed the team, it feels like he has taken everything out of the team, and it feels like he can't do any more – he would say that," Toure added.

"At the moment, he knows he can still up that team, and that's what he's tried to do. He can help them.

"I think Jurgen is such an intelligent manager and if he feels he has squeezed the team to the maximum, he will just feel it and say definitely. For me, I still feel like this Liverpool team don't need a lot to come back to the top of the league there with the other [teams]."

Liverpool still hold out hope they can scrape into the top four but their late charge for Champions League football could be derailed if manager Jurgen Klopp’s comments about referee Paul Tierney come back to bite them.

Following the dramatic 4-3 victory over Tottenham, in which the Reds needed an added-time winner from Diogo Jota to extend a four-match winning run after squandering a 3-0 lead from the opening 15 minutes, Klopp said he did not know what the official “has against us”.

Klopp was booked for his over-zealous celebration in front of fourth official John Brooks but said of Tierney’s attitude: “What he said to me when he gave me the yellow card is not OK.”

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited was quick to respond, saying in a statement: “PGMOL is aware of the comments made by Jurgen Klopp after his side’s fixture with Tottenham Hotspur.

“Match officials in the Premier League are recorded in all games via a communications system and having fully reviewed the audio of referee Paul Tierney from today’s fixture, we can confirm he acted in a professional manner throughout including when issuing the caution to the Liverpool manager so, therefore, we strongly refute any suggestion that Tierney’s actions were improper.”

But it is Klopp’s suggestion of bias which is likely to land him in trouble with the Football Association and could lead to him receiving a touchline ban for Liverpool’s remaining few matches.

He was previously warned about his conduct after being banned for one match and fined £30,000 after the FA successfully won an appeal against the leniency of his punishment for berating an assistant referee during October’s home win over Manchester City.

The absence of Klopp from the touchline for any or all of Liverpool’s eminently-winnable remaining matches against Fulham, Brentford, Leicester, Aston Villa and Southampton could kill their momentum and blow their outside chances of catching fourth-placed Manchester United, who are currently seven points ahead with a match in hand.

One mistake and the best Liverpool can hope for is Europa League football but they came close to throwing it away against Spurs having coasted into a three-goal lead through strikes from Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah.

Harry Kane equalled Wayne Rooney’s Premier League tally of 208 goals just before half-time, leaving only Alan Shearer (260) ahead of him in the all-time list, and when Richarlison’s first league strike in added time followed Son Heung-min’s 77th-minute effort, Spurs looked like they had escaped with an unlikely draw.

However, just 99 seconds after equalising, Jota slotted in his fifth goal in four matches to spark wild – some would argue too wild in Klopp’s case – celebrations as Liverpool’s slim Champions League qualification hopes were kept alive.

“Sometimes we don’t half make it hard for ourselves,” said midfielder Harvey Elliott, back in the side after almost a month.

“We started the game unbelievably well, got three goals in quick succession, and personally I think we took our foot off the gas a little bit and allowed them to play a bit more football while not playing football ourselves.

“It’s a tough one to explain. It’s not a lack of concentration. Maybe because going 3-0 up early hardly ever happens so the way we deal with it is new to us.

“It’s always a hard situation because emotions are high, performing well and then we just decide to switch and didn’t do our game-plan.

“We decided to keep the ball and I felt it was just a bit slow in the way we moved it around and that caused ourselves problems. That’s something we need to snap out of.”

Ryan Mason, two matches into another spell as interim head coach following the sacking of Cristian Stellini after the 6-1 embarrassment at Newcastle, was less interested in Tottenham’s top-four chances now they had dropped to sixth than he was of repairing some of the recent damage.

“My priority is to get some togetherness, create some good feelings and energy around the place and bring our fans with us,” he said.

“The only way to do that is winning matches so it’s difficult to take. We’re just devastated in the way we lost the game.”

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited has refuted Jurgen Klopp’s claims that referee Paul Tierney acted improperly during Liverpool’s 4-3 win against Tottenham on Sunday.

Klopp was shown a yellow card by Tierney for his wild celebrations in front of fourth official John Brooks after Diogo Jota’s stoppage-time winner at Anfield, just 99 seconds after Richarlison had hauled Tottenham level in a seven-goal thriller.

The Liverpool manager pulled his hamstring in the process and in his post-match interview heavily criticised Tierney, accusing the match official of speaking to him in a manner which “was not OK”.

But PGMOL said in a statement: “PGMOL is aware of the comments made by Jurgen Klopp after his side’s fixture with Tottenham Hotspur.

“Match officials in the Premier League are recorded in all games via a communications system and having fully reviewed the audio of referee Paul Tierney from today’s fixture, we can confirm he acted in a professional manner throughout including when issuing the caution to the Liverpool manager so, therefore, we strongly refute any suggestion that Tierney’s actions were improper.”

Klopp faces heavy censure by the Football Association for his comments and touchline behaviour.

The German escaped a touchline ban in October and was instead fined £30,000 by an independent commission following his sending-off for confronting referee Anthony Taylor during Liverpool’s match against Manchester City at Anfield.

After Liverpool had snatched victory against Tottenham, Klopp told Sky Sports: “We have our history with Tierney, I really don’t know what he has against us, he has said there is no problem but that cannot be true.

“How he looks at me, I don’t understand it. My celebration was unnecessary, which is fair but what he said to me when he gave me the yellow card is not OK.”

When asked what Tierney had said, Klopp added: “I will not say anything about it. The refs don’t say what is said so I don’t say what is said.”

Klopp reignited his long-running feud with Tierney and referred back to last season’s 2-2 draw against Tottenham in London.

Klopp said: “Paul Tierney didn’t give Harry Kane a red card but Robbo (Andy Robertson) got a red card. It was not the first time, there are so many things.”

On his celebration in front of the fourth official, Klopp added: “Of course, we are emotional in these moments. It’s difficult. It is not OK, we shouldn’t do that. Yes, we are role models but we are human beings first and foremost.

“I didn’t say a bad word to the fourth official – not at all – but I pulled my hamstring probably in that moment so, fair enough, I’m already punished.

“A fair punishment for behaving not the right away. I have pain for a few days, Mr Tierney not.”

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