No excuses – Klopp backs Liverpool to ´deliver´ at Sunderland

Jurgen Klopp has warned Liverpool have “no excuses” if they fail to back up their win over Manchester City with another triumph at Sunderland on Monday.

Georginio Wijnaldum’s first-half header was enough to see off Pep Guardiola’s side on New Year’s Eve, keeping the Reds within six points of runaway Premier League leaders Chelsea.

A trip to 18th-placed Sunderland, licking their wounds after a 4-1 thrashing at Burnley, is next up for Klopp, who will take to the dugout roughly 43 hours after the full-time whistle of Saturday’s late game.

With Philippe Coutinho and Joel Matip needing a “miracle” to make their returns from injury, Klopp admits his selection process will stray from the norm.

“Usually after a game like this you ask a lot of questions, if you can rest a player or this or that,” Klopp said.

“I’m pretty sure I will not ask a lot of questions: ‘how do you feel?’ or whatever. 

“I will wait for the information from the medical department and then we don’t have a real session. That’s the other problem with rotation, we don’t have a session.

“We have [on Sunday] training but that’s pretty short. All the work we can put into this session we will, some tactical stuff, we have to do it.

“First of all I think it was very important that we won [against City]. If we had invested that much, it really would be hard if you got nothing.

“We got everything, so that’s great. Now we have to go to Sunderland and play our best and that’s the same for Sunderland. They played a few hours earlier, so I said enough about the fixtures long, long ago. We accepted it and now we go there and try to get the next three [points].”

On the test he faces at the Stadium of Light, Klopp added: “Everything is different. Hopefully I will see some weaknesses and then we make a line-up when the medical department gives me the opportunity.

“If I have no choice, the players will play who are fit, no excuses for nobody, everybody obviously wants it and we have to deliver, and we will deliver.”