Antonio Conte accused football's organisers of demonstrating a lack of care for players after Son Heung-min joined Tottenham's mounting injury list ahead of the World Cup.

Tottenham have the chance to move 13 points ahead of Liverpool in the Premier League table when they host the Reds on Sunday, but have been beset by fitness concerns in recent weeks.

With Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski already sidelined, Spurs suffered a huge blow on Tuesday when Son sustained a fracture around his left eye in their Champions League win at Marseille, throwing his chances of featuring in Qatar into doubt.

Defender Cristian Romero, meanwhile, has missed Tottenham's last two games with a calf problem, and will not be fit to return against Liverpool.

Speaking at Friday's pre-match news conference, Conte said the game's organisers were paying lip service to concerns over player welfare.

"It's better to start with a smile. We need to face this situation, we need to try to finish these three games in the best possible way," Conte said.

"We have these injuries; Richarlison is not available for the game, it's the same for Romero.

"About Romero, I can tell you if he has the possibility to play with one leg, he will play with one leg. I tell the fans that we have players really committed to the club. 

"Maybe Romero has an injury because he wanted to take a risk, but for sure, many teams are having big injuries, because we are playing every three days.

"We are seeing this situation is impossible for the future. Many times, I hear about the welfare of the players, but [talking] is only a polite way of showing they care. 

"They're not really worried about the welfare of the players if the schedule is this, if the most important thing is that the show must go on. 

"In the future, I don't want to hear or speak about the welfare of the players, because this is not true."

Conte offered more positive updates on the conditions of Rodrigo Bentancur and Kulusevski – the latter having not featured since September after sustaining a hamstring injury – but Lucas Moura's participation against Liverpool appears uncertain.

"Bentancur is much better and was part of a training session," Conte said. "It was the same for Kulusevski, he had half a training session with us.

"The problem is Lucas Moura is having different phases with his pain. Today it was really bad, and they told me he was really worried about this. I asked him to try to be available."

Sunday's match will represent the first time Tottenham have hosted Liverpool while above them in the Premier League table since October 2017, when they posted a 4-1 win over the Reds.

That, however, remains Spurs' most recent league victory against Liverpool, who are unbeaten in the teams' nine subsequent meetings in the competition (W6 D3).

Jurgen Klopp does not know how the protocol around concussions in football can be improved, but he is sure temporary substitutions are not the answer.

The issue of head injuries has come to prominence again in the past week, most notably after Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez initially played on in the 4-0 defeat to Newcastle United having collided with Tyrone Mings' knee.

Liverpool themselves had to use a concussion substitute – a sixth permanent change, which also grants the opposition another switch – in the Champions League win over Napoli in midweek.

James Milner went down early in the second half, having previously thought, like Martinez, he would be able to continue.

The idea of a temporary substitution, giving medical professionals further time to assess potential concussions, has been floated as a possible solution.

But Klopp, speaking in his news conference on Friday, pointed out the signs of some injuries can be delayed so long players would still be allowed to return to the pitch with a concussion.

"What else shall we do? I know you say 'temporary subs'; I am fine with the concussion sub, absolutely fine," he said before Sunday's match against Tottenham.

"Take him off and bring another player – it means you can still change five times after that, and the other team has an extra sub. I think that's the best we can do.

"You say it takes quite a while between getting the concussion and it really kicking in; I'm not sure then 15 minutes is really the time to wait for it.

"People will tell you after an hour it kicks in. I think how we do it is the right way.

"And it doesn't happen that often, to be 100 per cent honest. I can't remember one before [at Liverpool]. It was the first time with the way Milly got hit, but when did we have a concussion before? I can't remember it.

"We can talk about it like it happens all the time and the boys are constantly in danger. They are not. They are well-trained athletes and it doesn't happen that often.

"But if it happens, we have a solution for it, which is much better than ever before in football's history.

"Is there space for improvement? Probably, but I don't know how."

Milner will not play against Spurs but can return to non-contact training on Monday and a full session on Tuesday "if everything goes well".

Liverpool are at least boosted by Jordan Henderson's recovery from injury and Fabinho's return to form against Napoli.

"The game was a clear sign of Fabinho how we know him," Klopp said of his struggling star. "It was a good game and we defended in all positions on a different level to the week before. It felt good.

"For him, it was very important to realise that that's possible. It was a good start in the right direction."

Jurgen Klopp believes the problems arising from a "crazy" mid-season World Cup should have been addressed long ago amid a swathe of injuries affecting big-name players.

Debates around the scheduling of the tournament, which begins when hosts Qatar face Ecuador on November 20, have intensified after several players' hopes of featuring were thrown into doubt.

England trio Kyle Walker, Reece James and Ben Chilwell are fighting to be fit for the tournament, while South Korea's Son Heung-min is also a doubt after suffering a fracture around his left eye in Tottenham's Champions League win at Marseille on Tuesday.

Liverpool great Jamie Carragher responded to that injury by calling the World Cup's timing an "absolute disgrace", but Klopp says football missed the chance to challenge it.

Asked about the situation ahead of Liverpool's Premier League meeting with Spurs, Klopp interjected: "I hate this subject. These problems were so clear, so clear.

"Nobody mentioned it once until three, four weeks before the World Cup, when all of a sudden a player gets injured and we think, 'Oh, he cannot play the World Cup'. 

"This specific problem that players who were injured late in the season cannot play the World Cup is not new. After a long season, it happens everywhere in the world. 

"But now, starting the World Cup a week after the last game, that's a bigger risk. Crazy.

"Nobody cares about us, how we deal with it. You ask me a question as if I can give you all the answers; what do you think I should do? Ask the players before Southampton or before Derby [County]: 'Really? [Do you] want to play?' 

"We are all guilty – you more than I am guilty – for letting it happen, for letting it happen in the first place. 

"Now it's happened, and now we have this situation, and that's it. For the players who get injured and cannot play, it's a disaster. But how can we change that?"

Jurgen Klopp acknowledges Liverpool cannot afford to "be picky" after a slow start in the Premier League, meaning they are ready to fight again against a Tottenham side he never relishes facing.

Liverpool head into the weekend in ninth place, 15 points behind leaders Arsenal, 13 shy of champions Manchester City and 10 off opponents Spurs, who are third.

The Reds have lost their past two league matches to Nottingham Forest and Leeds United, both of whom were in the bottom three heading into those games.

For that reason, Klopp cannot write off a meeting with "a confident, strong opponent" at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.

"It's a big game for us, a massive game for us – difficult as well, Spurs away," he said.

"I didn't count the points distance between us and them, but we cannot be picky with opponents and games where we want to get points. We have to go for it, definitely, but it's difficult."

Klopp is aware of the scrutiny around his every word while Liverpool are struggling, but he insists there is no alternative to talking up the "fighting" mood required to rescue their season.

That attitude will be needed again in a fixture of which Klopp has never been "1,000 per cent convinced", even if Tottenham are winless in nine in the league against Liverpool going back to 2017.

A positive, the manager accepted, is the way Liverpool have risen to the challenge of facing elite opposition this season, advancing in the Champions League and beating Napoli in midweek.

"To explain wins is really easy, because nobody listens really," the manager said. "Everybody is in a great mood, you're just smiling and 'it's in good shape'.

"When you lose, it's much more difficult; now, each word is really important. But I don't have five million different words for it.

"If you want to get out of something, you first have to get through it. That's where we are.

"It might take time, but it's not that we say now Tottenham is too early for us to really show up already. No, it's not; we go there and want to be at our best, 100 per cent.

"But sitting here now, being 1,000 per cent convinced 'yes, we will'? What I can tell you: it never was [easy] before going to Tottenham. I never thought 'good moment to face Tottenham; let's smash them'. That was never the case.

"It's a difficult place to go, a really good team, extremely well coached, and a real fighting unit. There are no friendly games against them. Antonio's on his toes on the sidelines, the players are in challenges, all these kinds of things, so it will be a tough one.

"But that's actually what we all want; it's like a Champions League game in the Premier League. That's how we will approach it.

"I can imagine in a phase like this it takes a bit longer [talking about defeats]. 'Always the same: fighting, doing this, oh, again' – these kinds of things.

"Sorry. Without fighting, we shouldn't even try. Yes, we have to fight through this; that's the case, that's how it is.

"You cannot play through it, you cannot say now to forget the defending stuff, 'let's just circle around them, pass the ball through them, nutmegs here, backheels there'. That's not how it works. That's why we're in the mood we are. It's absolutely okay.

"It's rather good that in between... you lose against Leeds, and I couldn't have felt worse, no chance, but then you play a good game against a team in form, and it gives you a lift. That's normal. Here we go.

"Now, we play against Tottenham and try to feel like we did after the Napoli game."

LaLiga has warned a fresh attempt to launch a European Super League will be offering only a rehashed version of the competition that launched and collapsed within days last year, leaving clubs humiliated.

The Spanish league is determined to fend off a new proposition for an elite league, and has warned it would "destroy" the existing structure of the domestic game.

In a statement, LaLiga pointed to a previous proposal from 2019, as well as the calamitous launching of the Super League last year that saw 12 teams agree to take part, before almost all pulled out in a hurry after a furious backlash from fans, politicians and football governing bodies.

It was revealed in October 2022 that A22 Sports Management – a company representing the Super League clubs – is planning to revive the proposals. Bernd Reichart, a media executive, has been appointed to head up the plans.

LaLiga said on Twitter on Friday: "The promoters of the Super League are now preparing a model similar to the one put forward in 2019, which is still closed or mostly closed, which will destroy the national leagues and which has already been rejected by clubs and leagues in Europe."

Spanish giants Barcelona are among the teams still keen on the idea of a new competition, with club president Joan Laporta last month saying it would be "more even" than the current system, claiming UEFA is not satisfactorily enforcing the ethos of financial fair play.

LaLiga published a video expressing its opposition to the Super League, in which it stated that "the whole of European football took a stand against its closed, selfish and elitist model".

"Now the promoters of the Super League are trying to conceal its format, claiming that they still don't have a fixed model although it will be an inclusive and open," LaLiga added.

"We know that this is false, and that they want to present a semi-closed format similar to 2019 which has already been rejected by the clubs and European leagues.

"This model is based on promotion and relegation between European divisions where the national leagues do not provide direct access to the top tier. On the contrary, they perpetuate the participation of a privileged few, even if they perform poorly in their domestic leagues.

"To be clear: anything less than any club earning its place in Europe's top flight through success in the domestic leagues will remain a closed or semi-closed model.

"We have also heard that the Super League wants to claim to be the saviour of football, saying that the current system no longer appeals to young people. Fake news. As an example, data shows that LaLiga's audience in Spain among those under the age of 24 has increased by more than 22 per cent in the last four seasons."

LaLiga also said research showed football's global fan base had risen by 3.4 per cent in the 16-29 age bracket, while stating TikTok metrics revealed 60 per cent of its mainly young audience consumes football content.

The statement from LaLiga said the Super League's promise of "a more exciting competition" would in reality mean "a constant stream of the same type of clashes, turning the extraordinary into the ordinary".

It warned such a competition "would destroy the ability to turn dreams into reality", denying smaller clubs than the cherry-picked elite the long-established pathway to competition at the highest level.

LaLiga, whose president Javier Tebas has been a vocal opponent of the proposed new competition, added: "The promoters of the Super League must respect the will of European fans and citizens, where the Council of Europe has already taken a position against the Super League and the European Parliament has defended an open, democratic model based on meritocracy."

Jurgen Klopp will be the Premier League manager who benefits the most from a mid-season World Cup, according to former Liverpool goalkeeper Brad Friedel.

The Reds manager has been a firm opponent of the Qatar 2022 finals being slotted into mid-season, which has happened because the climate in Qatar made it unfeasible to stage the tournament in its usual June-July slot.

Klopp said earlier this season it was taking place "at the wrong moment for the wrong reasons", but his message has changed in recent times, with Klopp optimistic the break from Premier League duty could help Liverpool.

He said his team "will be different" once the domestic season resumes, with Liverpool having six weeks without a game between their November 12 clash with Southampton and the December 26 trip to Aston Villa.

The likes of Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota will have time to recover from injuries, and Klopp's squad is not loaded with players who are likely to be first choice for their countries at the World Cup. For the likes of Mohamed Salah, who did not qualify with Egypt, there will be a break from the treadmill of game after game.

To an extent, it will be like a bonus pre-season spell for Klopp and his players, a time to recharge and refocus, with last year's quadruple push having sapped many at Anfield, particularly the late-season anguish of missing out on the Premier League and Champions League titles.

"I think fighting for four trophies and all the games that they had really took its toll," Friedel told Stats Perform.

"They've also had some injuries, they have players that are going to be leaving for the World Cup. And I think for all the clubs in the Premier League, this World Cup break – not really a break – but the World Cup is going to help them the most.

"I think after the World Cup, you're going to see a completely different Liverpool team. But I think just the injury, suspensions and mental fatigue have been the main things."

Former United States shot-stopper Friedel had a three-year spell at Liverpool from 1997 to 2000, and also played in the Premier League for Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Tottenham.

It was Liverpool who gave him his big break in England, and he has been taken aback to see Klopp's team struggle as badly as they have done this season, despite their 2021-22 exertions.

They face Spurs on Sunday, when Friedel is bound to have split loyalties. After 12 rounds of Premier League games, Liverpool have won four, drawn four and lost four, to sit ninth in the table, after consecutive defeats to Nottingham Forest and Leeds United.

"[I've been] really surprised. But they've got one of the world's best managers, got one of the best squads. They had a lot of games last year, a lot of tired minds, a lot of tired legs, and they've had injuries and suspensions this year," Friedel said.

"I'm not worried about Liverpool at all. They should keep rolling with who they have and how they play. They'll come out of it and they'll be consistent again, and I couldn't say enough nice things about Jurgen Klopp and what he's done for the club."

He holds the belief Liverpool can still finish in the top four, to earn Champions League football next season.

"I think they're going to be there," Friedel said. "There's always a team from the bottom that comes up."

He says the sale of Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich and arrival in his place of Darwin Nunez always meant there would be a transition period.

"When big players come and go, that happens all the time at clubs," Friedel said. "I would say [it is having] more of an impact as it's taking a little bit longer for Nunez to have consistent form.

"Losing a player happens. Once Nunez finds his feet, and I know Liverpool also have the ways and means to go out in the transfer market again, they'll get that position right."

Napoli winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is expected to cost €100million if the undefeated Serie A leaders choose to sell at the end of the season.

Kvaratskhelia, 21, was with Rubin Kazan for three seasons before the Russian invasion of Ukraine halted their 2021-22 campaign, allowing the Georgia-born player to sign with Georgian club Dinamo Batumi.

Napoli scooped him up from Batumi for around €10m, and he has been in fine form since arriving in Italy. In 12 Serie A games, Kvaratskhelia has six goals and seven assists, while adding two goals and three assists in five Champions League matches.

A January sale has been ruled out, but if the club decide to cash-in on their shrewd piece of business, they could reportedly multiply their investment 10-fold.

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According to Kvaratskhelia's agent Christian Emile in an interview with Fabrizio Romano, the Georgian sensation affectionately referred to as 'Kvaradona' by Napoli fans is one of the hottest names on the transfer market.

In the interview, reported by the London Evening Standard, Emile said there is "a zero per cent chance" he is sold in January as Napoli push for their first title since the 1989-90 season. 

However, he said "people are talking about €100m" when discussing Kvaratskhelia's value now, and if his form continues in this fashion the rest of the season, Emile added "he will reach €100m for sure".

The report names Liverpool and Chelsea as two of the key clubs known to have interest at this point.

ROUND-UP

– Mundo Deportivo is reporting Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan – who is out of contract at the end of the season – is a target for Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid. 

– According to The Daily Mail, Manchester United have made Borussia Dortmund's Jude Bellingham their top target.

– Eden Hazard could leave Real Madrid in January, per Mundo Deportivo, with Juventus named as a club interested in the 31-year-old.

– Media Foot is reporting United are "seriously considering" a move for 33-year-old Bayern Munich forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, but they will not be making any significant purchases in January.

– According to L'Equipe, Lionel Messi does not want to leave Paris Saint-Germain without winning "a major trophy", and is considering extending his contract beyond this season.

Jurgen Klopp believes it is unfair to expect players to engage in political protests at the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.

The decision to host the tournament in Qatar – where male homosexuality is illegal – has long been criticised due to concerns about the country's human rights record.

England's Harry Kane will be among eight European captains to wear a distinctive heart-adorned armband at the tournament, in order to raise awareness of the OneLove campaign against discrimination.

Meanwhile, tennis great Billie Jean King has called on players to act as "influencers" in Qatar, but Klopp believes handing down that level of responsibility is unjust.

"I understand 100 per cent that we talk about it," Liverpool manager Klopp told Sky News after receiving the Freedom of the City on Wednesday. 

"But it's not fair to talk now to the players and give responsibility to them, because it's more than 10 years ago that other people decided [to host the World Cup in Qatar], and we all accepted the decision.

"I watched documentaries recently about the election of Russia [in 2018] and Qatar, so it's not about this generation of players to say now that 'we don't go' or 'we don't do that'.

"These are the players. The tournament is in Qatar. The players go there and play the game. 

"The decision was made by other people and if you want to criticise anybody, then criticise the people who made the decision. Not the sport, not the competition and for sure, not the players. 

"It's not fair that we expect from them that they go there and make big political statements or whatever. It's just not fair."

Klopp did offer his support when asked about the OneLove campaign, but reiterated his belief players should not be expected to protest the initial decision to stage the tournament in Qatar.

He said: "That's absolutely fine, but what I don't like is that we expect them [the players] to do something. They go there to play football. The big tournament was organised and planned by other people."

Last week, Australia's players launched a campaign to highlight World Cup host Qatar’s human rights record.

Jurgen Klopp was awarded the Freedom of the City of Liverpool on Wednesday in acknowledgment of his success at Anfield since his appointment as manager in 2015.

Liverpool have won seven trophies under his stewardship, including the Champions League in 2019 and their Premier League title.

Klopp received the city's highest civic honour at a ceremony at the Town Hall after being nominated in July.

In attendance were members of Klopp's coaching staff, as well as Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish and the city's mayor.

Klopp's side have endured a below-par start to this campaign and are already 15 points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal, though they have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League.

The Reds will play three more times before the World Cup, with Premier League fixtures against Tottenham and Southampton either side of a third-round EFL Cup tie with Derby County.

The Football Association has condemned the rise in terrace chants relating to the Hillsborough disaster, calling them "abhorrent" and stating they will continue to work with survivor groups.

An apparent increase in derogatory language referencing the 1989 disaster, when 97 Liverpool fans died in a stadium crush during an FA Cup semi-final at the Sheffield Wednesday ground, has been noted over the past year.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola condemned the behaviour of supporters during an incident last season, and did so again last month.

Manchester United also criticised fans over their actions in April, and now the FA have moved to clamp down further on the matter.

"We are very concerned about the rise of abhorrent chants in stadiums that are related to the Hillsborough disaster and other football related tragedies," read a statement.

"These chants are highly offensive and are deeply upsetting for the families, friends and communities who have been impacted by these devastating events, and we strongly condemn this behaviour.

"We support clubs and fans who try to stamp out this behaviour from our game.

"We also support the excellent work of the survivor groups who engage with stakeholders across football to help educate people about the damaging and lasting effects that these terrible chants can have."

Darwin Nunez can be a "scary" presence for Liverpool but still needs to grow his overall game, says Reds great Jamie Carragher.

The Uruguay international got on the scoresheet in the Premier League side's 2-0 win over Napoli in the Champions League on Tuesday, for his sixth goal of the season across all competitions.

Nunez had a tough start to life at Anfield with a red card against Crystal Palace seeing him serve an early season ban, but is starting to show his potential on Merseyside.

With more attempts on a per-90-minute basis (6.7) in the English top-flight this term than anyone else, Carragher suggests the stats back the influence the 23-year-old can have on matches.

"It's really interesting watching Nunez," he told CBS. "He comes on and he makes a huge impact. He hasn't set the world alight, he hasn't done what [Erling] Haaland's done and people would've expected more for the price-tag. 

"But when you look at his minutes on the pitch and how many goals he's scored per minute, his numbers are scary. He's actually made a huge impact."

Carragher feels that Nunez is yet to fully master his all-around game though, adding: "But there's still something not quite there, where Jurgen Klopp is going to play him every single game.

"I think he's got [similarities to] Fernando Torres. He's got that power, physically, to knock defenders off, that blistering pace. But at times, maybe technically, [he is] not the best in terms of general play."

Nunez has posted a 0.6 goal yield every 90 minutes in the Premier League this term, a ratio bettered by just seven players, while only Manchester City's Erling Haaland has a superior non-penalty xG than his 0.76.

Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool's win over Napoli offered a reminder they are still "a top team", though he acknowledges they cannot rest on the achievements of last season.

The Reds got back to winning ways with a 2-0 win over the Serie A leaders in their final Champions League group-stage game, with both sides heading through to the knockout rounds.

Late goals for Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez helped rebound from the latest disappointment of a difficult season, with Liverpool having lost late on to Leeds United in the Premier League on Saturday.

Klopp says his team know they have quality, but they need to sometimes take stock of themselves in order to achieve the right results amid a tough campaign.

"We don't doubt the quality, I don't think anybody doubts the quality," he said. "But that's part of the problem as well – we don't show consistency.

"That's why we have to [take] a proper step back, and tonight we did that."

"We are Liverpool, a top team. Nobody forgot what we did last year, the boys didn't forget that, but it's now not important really. I know people might get sick of it when I say it, but we really have to fight through.

"We showed everything. We showed pieces of good football, and the defensive stuff was on a high level.

"Napoli [are] a real force, really, and it could have been extremely difficult for us tonight, but the boys played a good game and that's why it was not.

"Tonight we will take the right conclusions of this game, even when the next one will be a completely different game for different reasons. We will take the good stuff out of this game and then start the next fight against Tottenham."

Jude Bellingham has plenty of admirers following his outstanding performances this season for Borussia Dortmund.

Bellingham is contracted with Dortmund until 2025 and the eight-time German champions are eager to ward off interest in him.

The 19-year-old midfielder has scored nine goals in 19 appearances in all competitions this term.

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Borussia Dortmund may demand a Premier League-record fee of £130million (€151m) for Jude Bellingham, claims The Sun.

Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Liverpool are all looking to secure the playmaker's services.

It had previously been expected that the Premier League clubs would bid around £87m (€100m) for Bellingham.

Manchester City's £100m-plus signing of Jack Grealish remains the most a Premier League club has forked out for a transfer fee.

ROUND-UP

– Fichajes claim Chelsea are in pole position in the race to sign Juventus' midfielder Adrien Rabiot. The Frenchman is out of contract at the end of this season and was linked with Manchester United in the last window.

– David de Gea is willing to accept reduced terms to extend his stay with Manchester United, according to The Athletic. The Spanish goalkeeper's current contract expires at the end of this season.

– Uruguay international winger Facundo Pellistri is set to leave Manchester United in January, claims Nicolo Schira, with some interest from Spanish and Italian clubs.

– Tottenham are weighing up a January move for Atalanta forward Ruslan Malinovskyi, reports Il Giorno.

– CBS Sports claims Everton and Newcastle United are keeping tabs on Chelsea's 21-year-old striker Armando Broja.

Mohamed Salah challenged Liverpool to carry their Champions League form into the Premier League and make the most of their remaining games before the World Cup.

The Egypt international poached the first goal in a 2-0 home win over Napoli on Tuesday as Liverpool ended their group-stage campaign in Europe on a high with a fifth successive victory in the competition.

The Anfield outcome was not enough for Liverpool to topple their Italian opponents from the top of Group A, but both march through to the last-16 stage with ambitions to go deep.

Yet Liverpool's domestic form has been poor this term, with just four wins in 12 Premier League games seeing them stuck in a mid-table rut, exemplified by recent losses to Nottingham Forest and Leeds United.

Jurgen Klopp's side have Tottenham away on Sunday, followed by Southampton at home the following Saturday, before a large number of their players head to Qatar 2022.

Salah will not be among them, after Egypt's penalty shoot-out defeat to Senegal in African qualifying back in March, with his ambitions for the season all centred around bringing trophy success to Liverpool.

He savoured the moment against Luciano Spalletti's Napoli, who are leading the Serie A title race, and told BT Sport: "To win against one of the best teams in the world, one of the best coaches in the world, it's always a good feeling, but we just need to carry on.

"It's a good result for us – hopefully it gives us more confidence, and we just need to focus now in the Premier League and carry on."

Salah did not realise he had been awarded the opening goal, after Darwin Nunez's powerful header almost crept over the line before the ball trickled back out. Salah tucked it in to make sure but said afterwards: "Is it mine? Honestly, I didn't know."

He now has seven in this season's Champions League, making him the competition's top goalscorer for now.

Nunez got Liverpool's second from inches out in the final moments, the second tap-in of the game, and Salah said: "As a striker, I like to score and Darwin also likes to score, so we're glad that we got both goals today.

"I think it's important, that win today. It gives us more confidence, especially because we played a good game, and we played with the ball and without the ball, we tried to recover the ball quickly. As you can see in the league we're not doing great, but hopefully we can give ourselves a push, and we just need to win more games in the league."

After playing with two forwards recently, Klopp reverted to his long-favoured 4-3-3 formation, and it paid off.

Salah said choosing Liverpool's shape was "not my job, it's the gaffer's job", but he firmly indicated his preference for the three-man attacking line, with his role on the right of the trio.

"Any position that makes me comfortable, I'm happy about it, but I've played in the position for five, six years and I have to say that yes, the position is the best for me, but I'm not the manager," Salah said.

"The manager decides the tactics, and as a player you have to follow the leader."

Jurgen Klopp says it is "absolutely insane" his side finished their Champions League group with 15 points after making it five wins on the spin with victory over Napoli.

The Reds were beaten 4-1 by the Serie A leaders in the reverse fixture on matchday one – a loss Klopp described as the worst performance of his seven-year tenure.

Liverpool recovered with wins home and away against Ajax and Rangers to qualify for the last 16 with a game, against Napoli at Anfield on Tuesday, to spare.

A 2-0 win saw Liverpool inflict some revenge on Napoli for their September mauling, but they fell two goals short of overtaking their opponents at the Group A summit.

Klopp's side will therefore be unseeded in Monday's last-16 draw, but the German was pleased with what he saw against Napoli, who entered the game unbeaten in 17 matches.

"We showed tonight a really good reaction," he told BT Sport, referencing Saturday's 2-1 loss to Leeds United that leaves Liverpool ninth in the Premier League.

"I would have enjoyed the game even without the goals. Being compact makes all the difference. All of a sudden we are difficult to play against.

"If you see what Napoli can do in the moment, it was a really good game in our situation. The boys played a good game with a lot of courage.

"I saw the bravery to go in for challenges, making a proper fight of it and two set-pieces give us the three points – 15 points in the Champions League group is absolutely insane."

The win over Napoli was Klopp's 400th game in charge of Liverpool, and his 100th in the Champions League with the Reds and Borussia Dortmund.

He is just the seventh manager to reach that milestone in the competition, while only Pep Guardiola (61) has won more than the German's 58 games in those first 100 outings.

Liverpool survived a scare when Leo Ostigard had a goal ruled out by a VAR check lasting more than three minutes, with the technology coming to the Reds' aid two more times.

Mohamed Salah gave the hosts the lead in the 85th minute and substitute Darwin Nunez, who played a part in that opener, added a second in the 98th minute.

Those two goals were also subjected to VAR checks, but Klopp joked he could have no complaints over the delays due to his side being on the right end of the decisions.

"I heard it was some technical issues [for the delay on the first goal]," he said. "It is tough but in the end it is good for us. 

"Three times in our direction. I did not see the first goal. But after a long time they seem to have made the right call."

Despite their 13-game winning run coming to an end in their first defeat since April, Napoli finished top of their Champions League group for only the second time (also 2016-17).

The Italian side had scored a competition-high 20 goals across their opening five group matches, but they mustered just two attempts on target at Anfield.

"We're very disappointed," said defender Ostigard. "We thought we were in the game, especially in the second half. To lose at the end is tough to take. We came here to win."