Jurgen Klopp's vow to Liverpool fans as planned Anfield farewell hangs in the balance
Jurgen Klopp insists he will be on his best behaviour at Villa Park on Monday to avoid a touchline ban for his Anfield farewell.
The Liverpool boss is just one yellow card away from being sent to the stands and with just one game to go after their clash with Aston Villa, that would mean sitting in the crowd for his final game as Reds manager.
The Merseysiders take on Villa on Monday before hosting Wolves next Sunday in what will be an emotional farewell for Klopp after nine years at the club. But there is still a chance he could miss being in the dugout for the game if he was to get his third booking of the season.
Klopp was carded away at Luton early in the campaign and at home to Burnley in February. So if referee Simon Hooper brandishes another for the Reds boss it would have huge ramifications.
Klopp said: “I know that already for long, when did I get the second yellow? By the way we could turn it around and say I only got two yellow cards, some of my colleagues got suspended, right? Hmm.
“I got calmer over the years, obviously. I don’t need to [be on the touchline] but it would be cool that I could do that.
“It will not be from my side, I will try absolutely everything to try not get involved in any kind of discussions.”
Liverpool head into the penultimate weekend still not mathematically out of the Premier League title race but they would need both Manchester City and Arsenal to suffer almighty collapses. The focus is now clearly on bidding farewell to Klopp while there will be a chance for the likes of Darwin Nunez to rediscover form.
The Uruguayan has been linked with a move away from the club after he deleted all his Liverpool pictures on Instagram as he ends the season struggling. Nunez, 24, has scored 18 goals this season and created 13 but his misses have been costly in some games.
Darwin Nunez
The £85m signing from Benfica missed another great chance in the 4-2 win over Tottenham last weekend which frustrated supporters as Spurs tried to mount a comeback.
But Klopp said: “There is no speculation. It must be external because I don’t know about this. There is no speculation right now, it’s just a situation we are in.
“Darwin was definitely not happy missing that chance. He is unlucky, let me say was, he was unlucky in so many situations where he is doing everything right but the ball still doesn’t go in.
“That’s really tough for a young man. He has big expectations on himself. There is no alternative than going through it, that’s what he’s doing right now.
“We try to help him with all we can but you have to go through it, everyone has to go through this.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – APRIL 24: Jurgen Klopp the head coach / manager of Liverpool consoles a dejected Darwin Nunez of Liverpool after his teams 2-0 loss during the Premier League match between Everton FC and Liverpool FC at Goodison Park on April 24, 2024 in Liverpool, England.(Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
“That’s part of a footballer’s career. All his problem is that he is that good, he is constantly in these moments. If he was less good, he would not have chances.
“People just say, ‘That’s not great’. Because he is good, he is in these moments.
“How many goals did he score, he is not too bad with numbers right. Eighteen goals. They are not bad numbers! Because of his quality everyone says, ‘Ah, again, again!’. Because we did not score, somebody else would have scored in that moment and not felt that bad.
“Nobody likes it but it’s part of a career.”
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