Liverpool thumped the Slovenians 7-0 in the reverse fixture two weeks ago but Klopp insists that Liverpool must be at their best to claim victory this time around.
In order to demonstrate his point, Klopp used an example from way back in 1954, when West Germany beat Hungary in the World Cup final, despite having lost 8-3 to the Mighty Magyars in the group stage of the tournament.
“I am from Germany so I know in 1954 we lost against Hungary in the group stage really clear and then won the World Cup final,” he explained. “Nobody would have expected that. That’s football. That is how I learned it pretty early in my life. It’s always possible. It’s all about our performance.
“We have to use the little advantage of being the home team, using the crowd, being spot-on again, but we did so well in Maribor and that was the reason for the result – not the quality of the opponent. At the end it looked like a big difference but it was only because of our start. We have to do that again. Being there from the first second should be easy to understand for the boys because we lost points in the first two games of the group. Everybody is close together. Nobody knows how the other game will be so we need to use this opportunity for us to win the home game and be in a better position.”
Finally, the German also said that Liverpool's most recent opponents Huddersfield should act as good preparation for the Maribor clash, saying: “Since we played them they won and they are first, level on points. They are usually really well organised but it is a football playing side and I don’t think they can change this much. The last game against Huddersfield will be a good reference for us. Yes, they will be organised, they will not open any gaps for us, they will not make it easy for us, they will fight for each yard and that’s clear.
“We have to do like we did in the first game. Two or three of the goals were because of our pressing situations, when they played and we jumped in, the first goal especially when Mo [Mohamed Salah] put the left-back under pressure with his speed. I don’t expect a lot of easy spaces. We will have to work for this. If anyone is expecting something like this [7-0 again] I cannot change that.
“We have three more games, nine points, we had the first two games with good performances but not enough points, so there is nothing to waste now. We have to be and we will be 100% serious. I will make sure of that. If we win at the end 1-0 I am completely happy about it because it means we have three more points.”