Antonio Conte looking to let his Spurs side go ‘face to face’ with Liverpool and admits Jurgen Klopp’s side are ‘one of the best in the world’

Posted by

Antonio Conte has admitted he prefers playing against teams that play attacking football and is looking forward to going ‘face to face’ with Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool tomorrow.

The Reds welcome Spurs to Anfield and have the opportunity to leapfrog Manchester City at the top of the table if they avoid defeat.

Klopp’s side will head into the clash after defeating Villarreal in Spain on Wednesday night where they secured their spot in this season’s Champions League final and Conte is therefore aware of the threat Liverpool will pose his side.

“It is very difficult to play against Liverpool – they are in really good form,” the Italian said (via the Irish Times).

“I watched [the Champions League semi-final against] Villarreal and the composure, the calm was incredible. The team is strong, it is one of the best in the world. At the same time it will be a good game for us.

“Whenever you play these top teams it is important there is the great desire to find a way to stop them. Against Manchester City it happened twice and against Liverpool we drew at home. For sure I think it’s better when you play face to face with these teams than when we find a team who are very very deep with not so much of the ball.”

The North London outfit have done the double over Manchester City this season and earned a point against us back in December in the reverse fixture.

Conte was questioned about how he’d set up his side up this time around but refused to give anything away in his press conference.

“I don’t want to give an advantage to a team that doesn’t need one,” he said.

READ MORE: Liverpool supporters group send open message to UEFA regarding Champions League final ticket allocation and pricing

Following our League Cup success back in February, we’re one point behind City in the league with four games remaining and will play in the FA Cup and Champions League final later this month.

The former Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan boss was therefore full of praise for Klopp’s quadruple-chasing Reds.

“Klopp is doing a fantastic job. It’s not easy, especially for an English team, to arrive at the end of the season and be competing for all competitions. Liverpool players run a lot and the fact they have not many injuries [means] the enthusiasm is not 100 per cent, it is 200 per cent.

“You don’t feel the fatigue when you arrive at this point. We want to go there to play our game and we know very well that we are in the race for a Champions League place and we have to try to get a point in every game.” – Guardian (via Irish Times).

Conte’s side are in the hunt for the top-four and will pose a serious threat tomorrow night.

The clash will see the league’s top two goalscorer go head-to-head – Mo Salah leads the way with 22 strikes and Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min is just three goals behind.

It’d be great to see Salah extend that lead further tomorrow, but all that matters is the three points.

Up the Reds!

#Ep49 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: Is Tottenham our hardest remaining league game? Who’s been Liverpool’s best player of the second-half of the season?… & more!

More Stories Antonio Conte Jürgen Klopp Liverpool