Jurgen Klopp issues a warning from Romelu Lukaku against Liverpool to face a “big problem”

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Jurgen Klopp has warned Liverpool of the obsession with stopping Romelu Lukaku ahead of the Chelsea striker’s expected clash against Virgil van Dijk.

Lukaku scored in his London side’s 2-0 win over Arsenal last Sunday in his first appearance since returning to Stamford Bridge in a £97m deal earlier this month.

The Belgium international’s head-to-head confrontation with Van Dijk captured the imagination with Chelsea visiting Anfield in a fierce confrontation on Saturday night.

But Klopp believes Thomas Tuchel’s side have a threat throughout the squad and that Van Dijk will not be the only Liverpool defender targeted.

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“You can write any headline you want to write about Romelu and Virgil, but it will come out around the other half of the middle I guess!” The Reds coach said.

“If you watch the match against Arsenal, the two goals scored by Chelsea, one of them was Reece James who was shown in front of him and you can see how Arsenal tried to defend him and how he got rid of the central defender and entered the penalty area for an easy goal.

“The other target of Reece was because the Arsenal formation was really pivotal (to tackle Lukaku) so Reece was completely free on the right inside the 18-yard area.

“If we only focus on Romelu, you will be punished by Kay (Havertz) and Mason (Mount). That is the situation.

“Last year people talked a lot about Chelsea playing really well but they didn’t finish enough positions and that was obviously the idea behind signing Romelu.

“Smart business. But the good thing about football is that there is no football that you absolutely cannot defend.”

Klopp is likely to start with Joel Matip alongside Van Dijk in the center of defence, as Andy Robertson prepares to replace Costas Tsimikas at left-back.

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The return of Fabinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain means there is a host of midfield options for the Reds manager, who will choose between Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino to lead the line in the first game of the season between any of the four awaited Premier League leaders. contenders for the title.

On Chelsea, Klopp added: “What Thomas Tuchel did there was really good. The way they build, the way they play is a clear structure but very flexible.

“They have a show most of the time with the wing-back, they have players in half spaces with a double 10 or a double six. Very flexible players. And now a suitable target player up front.

“It’s a good football team, that’s why they won the Champions League. We are a good football team, now let’s play the match.

“We’ve had enough time to train and talk about it. We will show the boys – as we have already done – what we want to do to make problems for them because we should not ignore the fact that this is also possible.”

Chelsea finished under Liverpool in the Premier League and scored 10 fewer goals, but won the Champions League for the second time by beating Manchester City in the final.

And Klopp believes signing Lukaku from Inter Milan means Tuchel’s side now present a different kind of threat than the one they won 1-0 on their last visit to Anfield in March.

“The closest was when Giroud played up front, he’s still very different but he’s closer than when (Timo) Werner played up front,” he said.

“Romelo is a big fixed point. You can probably find him on the wings in moments but not because he will be there most of the time.

“He really wants to keep my middle halves center, take on these challenges, and make physical contact, all of that stuff.

“Then you have a wild run and clever boys around it, Mason Mount, maybe Havertz but they have a lot of other options to start.

Then there are the wings they always use, Reese James and either Chilwell or Alonso on the left side, two very good midfielders – is it Kante and Jorginho, or Kovacic and Jorginho, or whatever?

“But if Romelu is playing, it’s a different kind of game. If you let them cross, every ball in the square would probably be a big problem. That’s how it was with Giro as well.”

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