Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has showered praise on Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy ahead of the Reds’ trip to King Power Stadium on Saturday.
The Reds have lost two games in a row, and are heading into this game on the back of a miserable 4-1 defeat against Manchester City at Anfield.
With 10 points behind league leaders City already – who have a game in hand – Liverpool cannot afford to drop further points if they are serious about retaining their Premier League crown.
Klopp has confirmed today that the Reds will be without Fabinho for this game. The Brazilian midfielder – who has been playing as a makeshift centre-back this season following the injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez – has been outstanding for the Reds, and his absence is a massive blow.
It remains to be seen what combination Klopp goes with in this match, with both the newcomers – Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies – are in contention for starting roles.
If either or both of them are called upon, it will be a tough challenge against Vardy who has been in fantastic form this season.
Klopp feels that a week on the training pitch at Kirkby has settled the nerves of the two new players signed in the January transfer window.
The Reds boss has hailed Vardy – who is on £140k-per-week at Leicester – as a ‘world-class’ player and has suggested that it will be ‘tricky’ to keep him in check.
Klopp said: “Jamie’s obviously a proper challenge in this league. The way he plays, the way he gets set up by his mates. That’s a proper job to do.
“But we can only do it, always, with the whole team. That’s how we always tried to do it. We have to avoid the passes to him.
“Jamie is a world-class player for sure in this specific area of the pitch, with his speed, that’s really tricky.
“With [Kabak and Davies], obviously we now had some sessions together where we could really work on this defensive setup, and that’s very, very important.
“But we have as well, on top of that, other players available. Nat Phillips did really well, together with Hendo, together with Fabinho.”
Vardy has scored 13 goals in all competitions this season for the Foxes. Leicester are heading into this game on the back of a 1-0 win against Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup on Wednesday.
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