Jurgen Klopp expects Liverpool will relish their Champions League group decider in Salzburg.
Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Napoli denied the reigning holders a chance to seal their place in the last 16 of the competition with their final group game to spare.
Another stalemate against the Austrian Bundesliga outfit will be enough to see the Reds through to the knockout stage ahead of their hosts on December 10.
Despite the fixture compounding an already hectic schedule, with Liverpool playing nine games in four competitions, Klopp has backed his players to thrive.
He said: “I don’t want to say we need it [the pressure], but we had it always.
“I’m four years in, tell me when it was easy Last year, we had to win at home 1-0 against Napoli, I cannot remember a bigger pressure game than that.
“So, really difficult, and we did it. Now, we have to go to Salzburg.
“In this moment, the game is over, my problem is Fabinho is injured and Brighton, not Salzburg, not at all.
“But I know how human beings are; people wished we could finish the group tonight and make kind of a holiday game in Salzburg.
“That’s the situation – if we have ambitions in the Champions League, we have to show that in Salzburg; until then, we have to show our ambitions in the Premier League.”
The Liverpool manager is also sweating on Fabinho’s availability after the Brazilian midfielder suffered an ankle knock in the first half against Napoli.
“He has pain, so that’s not good,” admitted Klopp. He couldn’t continue, and he is a really hard one.
“I don’t want to say what I expect, because I hope that it is not that serious.
“But we will know more, maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after. We will see.”