Norwich City travel to Liverpool on Friday in preparation for Saturday's Premier League fixture at Anfield.
Following a windy flight back to Liverpool from Milan in the week, The Athletic reporter James Pearce spoke to canaries.co.uk all about the Reds.
canaries.co.uk: Liverpool beat Inter Milan 2-0 during the week. How did it go from your perspective?
JP: Liverpool had to really dig deep and showcase their resilience. Inter were impressive and took the game to Liverpool, causing them some problems, but defensively Liverpool were magnificent.
The depth of talent that Jürgen Klopp has got came to the fore. The changes he made in the second half transformed the game and two late goals have put Liverpool on the brink of the quarter-finals of the Champions League. They’ve got decent momentum behind them now with seven straight wins in all competitions.
canaries.co.uk: Luis Díaz seems to be making a positive impact already, and it seems like Diogo Jota’s got a bit of an injury from Wednesday?
JP: Yeah, it seems like he’ll be unlikely to feature on the weekend. He went over on his ankle and Klopp said after the game it had swollen up and he’d be assessed. It will be a blow, with the form that he’s in, but Klopp does have an array of firepower and Díaz, since his 50 million pound move from Porto in January, has really enhanced that.
Usually, new players need a period of adjustment to a new team’s style and environment, but he’s hit the ground running in terms of how quickly he’s slotted in. I think he’s highly likely to start against Norwich.
canaries.co.uk: It was another example of winning ugly, similarly to against Burnley last weekend. Is that encouraging for Liverpool at this stage of the season?
JP: Yeah, I think that’s the beauty for Klopp at the minute. They are able to win games in different ways. They’re able to rip teams apart at times with the fluency of their attacking football, yet when that’s not functioning as well as they’d like or if teams unsettle them and the conditions are difficult, which was certainly the case at Burnley, they’re able to grind out wins.
They’re in an unbelievable position at the minute, still chasing down Manchester City at the top of the Premier League, have got a League Cup final on the horizon the weekend after next, are still in the FA Cup and are on the brink of the last eight in the Champions League, so the mood is pretty buoyant.
canaries.co.uk: Harvey Elliott has recently come back from injury and he seems capable of doing a job if called upon.
JP: It was the ultimate show of faith in the teenager - the fact that Klopp handed him a start in the San Siro this week. He was the youngest player ever to start a European Cup game for Liverpool.
He’s been an absolute revelation since he came back from what was a pretty horrendous injury that he suffered against Leeds United back in September with a fractured dislocation of his left ankle.
He had just a couple of substitute appearances under his belt and then started at the San Siro. As well as his qualities, he’s absolutely fearless and has adapted really well to the new midfield role that Klopp has given him. It’s a squad where he’s got a lot of different options in pretty much every department.
canaries.co.uk: So how much rotation are you expecting for Saturday?
JP: I think there will be a fair bit. It wouldn’t surprise me if he made three or four changes from the win over Inter Milan. Because the squad is so strong at the minute, he’s got that confidence that he can make changes without the standards slipping.
When you look at the schedule, Liverpool have got a rearranged Premier League game against Leeds next Wednesday, then they’ve got the Carabao Cup final, then of course after that is Norwich again in the FA Cup, so it’s pretty relentless at the minute.
Rotation is a key part of Klopp plotting his way through this period, so I’d expect Joël Matip to come back in. He was given a breather against Inter, so you’d imagine he’d come back for Ibrahima Konaté or Virgil van Dijk and give one of those two a breather.
Potentially, even Kostas Tsimikas at left-back, although I’m sure Andy Robertson would be loathe to put his feet up. Up top, even without Jota, you’ve got Díaz desperate to start as well as Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino, who are back available.
Roberto Firmino came off the bench and scored the opening goal against Inter. Midfield-wise, Jordan Henderson only played half an hour the other night, so you’d expect him to come back into the starting line-up, the same with Naby Keïta. He did very well off the bench.
There will definitely be changes because Klopp believes that’s the best way to try to ensure that fatigue doesn’t kick in and adversely affect results or lead to injuries.
canaries.co.uk: Despite fatigue concerns, it seems like Mohamed Salah plays 90 minutes every game, doesn’t he?
JP: Yeah, Mo Salah never wants a rest, that’s the reality. Anyone that saw the look on his face when he was on the bench against Leicester having just come back from AFCON told a story. He was desperate to be out there from the off.
On the back of scoring that crucial second goal in the San Siro, he won’t want to be given a breather. He’ll be desperate to start against Norwich and Leeds ahead of the Carabao Cup final.
He’s in the box seat to win the Golden Boot in the Premier League this season and he’ll want to cement that and add to the 24 goals that he’s already got in all competitions this season.
canaries.co.uk: In terms of Norwich, Liverpool will have faced them four times by the end of this season. The first two games were both against Daniel Farke’s Norwich, so are you expecting anything different at Anfield with Dean Smith at the helm?
JP: I think the difference for Norwich now compared to a few months back is that they do have a bit of hope. Certainly, when I came to Carrow Road for the League Cup tie, the mood around the place felt a bit defeatist, like here we go again, but I think Dean Smith has changed things and Norwich are now a more difficult team to play against.
One big thing for Norwich is going to be guarding against the Liverpool threat from set-pieces. There’s always such a big focus on what Liverpool can do from open play with the pace and the dynamism of Salah and Sadio Mané and now Díaz of course, but in the last five games in all competitions, they’ve actually broken the deadlock through a set-piece, either a corner or a free-kick.
That’s when concentration and organisation are absolutely key, because Liverpool have got two dead-ball specialists in Trent Alexander-Arnold and Robertson, who are so adept at putting it into really dangerous areas.
Of course, it’s a game that Liverpool are expected to win, so Norwich have to try to ensure they frustrate them for as long as possible and then take any opportunities that come their way to cause Liverpool some problems of their own as well. I don’t think it’s realistic to think that you can go to Anfield and just defend with backs to the wall for 90 minutes.