Klopp ends year level with Van Gaal

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says Daniel Sturridge could feature against West Ham on Saturday following his recent injury troubles although Jordan Henderson is set to miss out.

“A striker who scores a decisive goal is always a positive thing, but I’m sure Christian knows he can play better”.

Klopp says he turned them down because he simply ‘wasn’t available, ‘ although we think had West Ham approached him when we did in October, he still would’ve turned them down!

“The manager has tried to drum into us that sometimes we’ve got to be dirtier, fight a bit more and play teams at their own game”, said Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana, who admitted there was luck involved in the goal.

Juergen Klopp refused to rule out Liverpool as Premier League title contenders on Wednesday after ending the year level on points with Manchester United and nine behind leaders Arsenal. Please note that comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language and will be removed accordingly.

Jürgen Klopp was instructed to calm down by a police officer after trading insults with Sam Allardyce and his backroom staff in the wake of Jeremain Lens’s nasty second-half tackle on Mamadou Sakho at the Stadium of Light.

“I’ve never been anxious about a football game”, he said.

“Both the games should have been put away, you know”.

“Obviously with my age, it’s not ideal to do that, but we’re very thin and I’m more than happy to do whatever the boss wants me to. I can not say too much about the problems he had now, I hope it’s not too serious”.

“That’s Christian Benteke time”, Klopp told Sky Sports News.

“On the pitch, we are progressing well, and we have two transfer windows coming up so, by this time next year, a lot of things will be different”.

Jermain Defoe forced Simon Mignolet into an excellent save, but Sunderland have now lost their past five games.

Klopp also confirmed West Ham did try to lure him to Upton Park in the summer.

Benteke could have added another goal to his name but Vito Mannone of Sunderland thought otherwise, while Roberto Firmino struck the post for The Reds in the first half.