OneFootball
Lewis Ambrose·19 January 2022
OneFootball
Lewis Ambrose·19 January 2022
Liverpool will face Arsenal in the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final on Thursday. Hereâs what Pep Lijnders had to say when he faced the media on Wednesday morning âŠ
âAlex is hoping he will make the weekend but tomorrow is too soon.
âIf we speak about Ox, we should discuss his outstanding performance [on Sunday]. In a good moment with quality.â
âThiago will hopefully be in full team training after the international break, to prepare for the Cardiff game. Divock [Origi] will be only after Cardiff.
â[Harvey Elliott] hasnât lost his football brain. It would be a crime not to play him when you see him like yesterday. He didnât knock on the door, he ran through it, but weâll take our time. He needs to get team fit.
âItâs great to have him back.
âWe miss three players at AFCON, everyone forgets Naby. We miss him as well, Man of the Match twice and heâs scored.â
âWe had our own experience of this. Itâs difficult to judge from the outside. I fully trust the medical departments at each Premier League club.
âWe went to Tottenham without crucial players. It was the same at home to Newcastle. We went to Chelsea without our manager, Ali, Bobby and JoĂ«l.
âAll the teams want to play. The first job of the medical guys is to protect players and their families.â
âWe go to Arsenal and itâs clear we need to win, thatâs good. In 90, 120, or penalties, we need to win this game. We want to create memories and special games, so itâs good we can speak about finals in January.
âWe prepare from the first day of pre-season and penalties is the same too. We donât just prepare this week for that. Everyone was writing us off from the first leg, so I cannot wait to go there and create a special game for us.â
âAt the start of the season we always talk about wanting to create special memories with our fans. Itâs good that we are in January and weâre talking about reaching finals and reaching Wembley.â
âItâs good that we have three really good goalkeepers. Adrian saved our arse whenever he was needed.
âKelleher is a special talent, he has the personality to not be involved for 60 minutes and then have to make a crucial save.â