This archive report was first published on 20 May 2020.
On May 20, 2020, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp expressed confidence in his team's ability to win the Premier League title without the energy of their Anfield crowd.
With the season suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, Liverpool were 25 points clear at the top of the table and now need just two more wins to claim a first English title in 30 years.
According to Klopp, the competition will make the intensity of the games, and his players can motivate themselves without a crowd.
"The competition will make the intensity," he told Liverpool's website. "So it's not about 'oh, Liverpool have to win two games'. By the way, we have to win two games when we start - it's not 'only two', it's two. We have to win them."
Klopp also acknowledged that playing without the Anfield crowd's energy will be a challenge, but he believes his players can rise to the occasion.
"We have to do it, unfortunately, without the best boost in the world and the best kick in your ass in the right moment in the world, from the Anfield crowd," he said. "But that's how it is. It's 100 percent (that) the perfect package of football is a full, packed Anfield stadium, two really good teams, big fight, super goals and at the end Liverpool win. That's the perfect matchday."
Players are now allowed to train in small, socially-distant sessions not lasting longer than 75 minutes, and Klopp is optimistic about their physical shape.
"From a physical point of view, the boys are in a good shape, I think Then we have to start getting used to the pitch, football boots and balls again," said Klopp.
