Jurgen Klopp says Leeds United “owe” his Liverpool side three points following their shock 2-1 win at Anfield earlier in the season, but the Whites are in no position to willingly surrender to anyone, let alone one of their biggest rivals.
Leeds host Liverpool on Monday night under the Elland Road lights in a match that could go a long way to defining their season.
The Premier League relation battle is set to go down to the wire and Leeds should survive. They’re two points above the drop but this club rarely sticks to the playbook, as the humbling 5-1 defeat to Crystal Palace last time out testifies.
Indeed, one of Leeds’ rare high points of this most torrid of seasons came on Merseyside in October when they prised an unlikely win from Liverpool – Crysencio Summerville netting in the last minute of the 90.
That defeat came off the back of a 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest and arguably marked the moment Liverpool’s early title aspirations went up in smoke.
Klopp’s side has nothing else to play for bar a European spot this term, and in reality they’re not going to make the top four come May. It means the motivating factor for the German heading into Monday’s clash perhaps is revenge over anything else.
“They owe us three points,” Klopp said. “It will be a big fight, a massive fight in the situation Leeds is in.”
Indeed, few Liverpool fans heading to West Yorkshire on Monday will be expecting anything less than a combative encounter against an age-old rival. Leeds haven’t beaten Liverpool at home since the iconic 4-3 showdown in November 2000 – Mark Viduka with all four goals for the hosts – and the tie maintains the same levels of vitriol from the stands as it has for decades.
“We expect them to be on their toes,” said Klopp. “It’s a massive fight, a proper atmosphere. It will be a tough one but we have to build on two games where we were good or in moments really good. We will try to do that.”
Leeds arguably rode their luck against Liverpool back in October. The Reds commanded possession, fired 22 shots at Illan Meslier’s goal, and missed a handful of sitters. They were stung by Jesse Marsch’s randomised style of football and a beautiful bit of persistence by Wilfried Gnonto that led to Summerville’s winner.
Since then Klopp has laboured to produce consistency in this Reds team, and their midfield struggles are well documented. Leeds under Marsch were a side that tried to boycott the midfield, going from zero to 100 in an attempt to sucker punch opponents.
Expect a different feel on Monday. Whereas Marsch – and his predecessor Marcelo Bielsa – demanded his Leeds team to play his way no matter the opponent, new boss Javi Gracia has a different mentality.
Plunged into the relegation fight, his first priority has been to nullify the opposition and steadily build attacks. Control, not chaos, is Gracia’s game.
It’s this control that helped Leeds rumble Wolves and grind a win over Forest since Gracia’s arrival. But it’s also this inflexibility that led to big losses against Arsenal and Palace.
Monday’s encounter is an intriguing one for the tactics aficionados among us. Despite the atmosphere, Leeds won’t go gung-ho here. They can’t afford to. Conservative, frustrating football is far more likely to drag Liverpool into the type of dogfight this Reds team have lost regularly all season.
Expect barking on the touchline, biting tackles on the pitch, and not much to separate the two teams. Neither will look to play through the middle unless the vacuum needs to be filled, and the game gets bogged down. It may well be one moment of brilliance from the wing splits the pair, and that’s a coin toss Gracia would gladly call.
Leeds have a wealth of attacking talent – almost too much to know what to do with. The best play out wide. But defensively they remain fragile, and the midfield was overrun against Palace on the counter. Liverpool, with Luis Diaz available, and both Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino back in the goals, could saunter to victory here.
But this season has not gone to script, either for them or Leeds. The Whites may “owe” their rivals three points, but there’s no guarantee they’ll be paying back on Monday.
“I said before in this moment we have no time to think about if it’s better or worse to play now against this team. We have to play, give our best and try to get the points,” Gracia said.
“We don’t pay attention if we play against one team or not. [We] pay attention to the importance of the points.”
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