Roberto Firmino's decision to leave Liverpool at the end of the season left Jurgen Klopp surprised, though he respects his choice.

The Brazilian informed the club last week that he would be leaving when his contract expires at the conclusion of the campaign, bringing an end to his trophy-laden seven-year spell at Anfield.

Firmino was given a rapturous reception after scoring the seventh goal in Liverpool's 7-0 demolition of Manchester United on Sunday, days after his decision to leave was revealed.

A Champions League and Premier League winner on Merseyside, Firmino has been a fan favourite throughout his time with the club and Klopp was taken aback by his choice.

Asked if he was surprised by the news, Klopp replied: "Yes, a little bit, but I was not hit by surprise, actually it's a normal thing to do.

"It could go two ways and it was one. And I respect that a lot. It's completely normal in this kind of long relationship that we have and Bobby has with the club and with most of the players and stuff like this, and with the fans of course.

"It's pretty special and I loved the reception he got when he came on against United. He told me and then the only other thing he said is, 'Now I want to bring this wonderful story to a positive end.'

"So, that's it. He is completely here and completely committed, how everybody can imagine. And that's all we need to know.

"There's no time for a goodbye or whatever in this moment, there's enough time for that later in the season. Whenever he will come back, everybody knows that the song will still be for a long, long time in everybody's ears I'm pretty sure.

"I think he's one of these players that even when he would come with an opposition team, people would be really happy to see him."

Jurgen Klopp urged his Liverpool side to remain focused on the task in hand as they pursue Champions League football and forget about the drubbing of Manchester United.

A thrilling 7-0 victory at Anfield last Sunday provided another boost to Liverpool's top-four hopes, and a victory over Bournemouth in Saturday's early kick-off would see them temporarily leapfrog Tottenham.

Liverpool head to the south coast with last weekend's result still at the forefront of the minds of many but Klopp made it clear past victories, no matter how emphatic, are no longer important.

"The 7-0, it was strange, it was nice and we'll all come back in 10-15 years and watch the game, maybe tickets for another derby, and someone might be next to me and remember that once we did that, but now it's done," he told a press conference.

"It was important but it's not important today. It was a good game, and we have to keep going."

Klopp is aware Bournemouth will provide a strong challenge for his side, having taken a 2-0 lead against league leaders Arsenal last time out before a remarkable second-half comeback from the Gunners.

With relegation still a threat for the Cherries, Klopp expects the hosts to "fight like crazy".

"The main thing is going to Bournemouth and playing a game there and not counting the points before you have them," he added.

"The way Bournemouth play, they can be really uncomfortable for each team - everybody saw against Arsenal in the last game, how much they had to fight and stretch luck, if you want.

"We might fight for the Champions League spots - we will see how the results will be in the next few weeks - but the fight to stay in the league is as exciting. Bournemouth will fight like crazy.

"We want to go into the top four, but it's about fully focused on Bournemouth."

To say this season isn't going according to plan for either Liverpool or Everton would be an understatement.

Liverpool have taken seven points from their six matches back since the World Cup break; Everton are on four from the same number of games.

The Reds could be as low as 11th by the time Monday's meeting between the Merseyside rivals takes place at Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp's team have looked a shadow of their former selves. Even in their poor title defence in the 2020-21 campaign, which included a 2-0 home defeat to Everton, they never seemed so unlikely to compete not only for the top honour, but Champions League qualification.

This time last year, Liverpool were in contention for an unprecedented quadruple; they would go on to triumph in the EFL Cup and FA Cup, though fell just short in the Premier League and lost 1-0 to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

After selling Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich but bringing in Darwin Nunez and tying Mohamed Salah down to a new contract, Liverpool seemed set for another title push after beating Manchester City in the Community Shield.

Yet it has all gone downhill from there. They are out of both domestic cups and have no chance in the league, with their tally of seven defeats in the top tier closing in on their worst tally in Klopp's full seasons in charge (nine – 2020-21).

Everton, on the other hand, are mired in another relegation battle, with yet another manager in place. Sean Dyche arrived last month, following Frank Lampard's dismissal after less than a year in charge.

Dyche started in style at Goodison Park, however, guiding Everton to their first win since October by beating league leaders Arsenal 1-0.

That victory has not lifted Everton outside of the relegation zone, though it injected some optimism into the team and fanbase ahead of the short trip across Stanley Park.

The cornerstone of Everton's win over Arsenal was Dyche's midfield trio, while that area of the pitch is a clear issue for Klopp. It might just be where this match is won or lost.

Liverpool found lacking

It was easy to be impressed when Liverpool announced they had struck a deal with PSV to sign Cody Gakpo, before the January transfer window had even started.

Gakpo had starred for the Netherlands at the World Cup and was taking the Eredivisie by storm, having scored 21 goals and set up a further 25 since the start of last season up until his switch to Anfield. But he has yet to score or assist in six matches, creating only two chances across 497 minutes of action.

While Liverpool will be confident Gakpo will come good, the sensibility of signing another forward for big money when their midfield needs are so glaring could be called into question.

The Reds are reportedly keen to sign Jude Bellingham at the end of the season, and the Borussia Dortmund sensation might well be transformative. However, Liverpool needed reinforcements now, not in six months' time.

Fabinho's form has been erratic, and it feels as though the 29-year-old might well have passed his peak. The Brazil international is recording his lowest per-90 totals for duels (8.5), duels won (4.2), duel success rate (48.9), forward passes (14.8), attempted passes (59.7) and tackle success percentage (52.1) since he joined in 2018. On the flip side, he is giving away 1.7 fouls per 90, his highest tally in a Liverpool shirt.

He was fortunate to escape a red card in the FA Cup defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion on January 28 and then missed last week's defeat to Wolves through illness.

Stefan Bajcetic started in Fabinho's place against Wolves and has looked bright when called on, though at 18 cannot be expected to perform consistently week in, week out.

Thiago Alcantara came to Liverpool as one of the world's best midfield maestros, but injuries have limited him to just 93 appearances and 71 starts.

Indeed, Thiago has not lived up to the form he showed at Bayern Munich, and while he creates a scoring chance every game on average, he has only directly contributed to nine goals.

To sum up his frustrations, Thiago is a doubt for Monday's match due to a hip issue.

Jordan Henderson works as hard as ever, but at the age of 32 cannot be relied on to play 90 minutes up to three times a week. Naby Keita, on the other hand, has never really lived up to his price tag.

Harvey Elliott has solidified himself as a regular, playing 1,131 top-flight minutes, and he leads the way for open-play shot-creating actions when it comes to Liverpool's midfielders (68).

Liverpool's midfield has been the bedrock of so much success, but it's in need of a revamp.

Building blocks for Dyche

Having utilised a 4-4-2 for much of his time at Burnley, Dyche sprung something of a surprise in his first match in charge of Everton by playing a three-man midfield.

Yet this was not the awkward, disorganised 4-3-3 that Lampard had attempted to force into place in his latter days as Everton boss, but rather a solid, robust 4-5-1 that, off the ball at least, morphed into the two, solid banks of four that Dyche is renowned for.

Abdoulaye Doucoure had fallen out of favour under Lampard but was back in against the Gunners for his first league start since August, and turned in one of his best Everton displays.

Only Gueye (10) won possession more times than Doucoure (nine) for Everton, while the former Watford midfielder's tally of 27 attempted passes ranked third for the Toffees. He also made two interceptions (a team high alongside James Tarkowski and Amadou Onana) and won his only attempted tackle.

No Everton outfielder created more final third entries (seven), while Doucoure also played a key role in limiting Oleksandr Zinchenko's impact. The Ukrainian had a game-leading 121 touches though created only one chance.

On the opposite side of Gueye, Onana delivered another display that hinted at his immense potential.

While Everton have floundered in recent months, Onana seems to have settled into English football. He led the team in touches (47), tackles (four) and tackles won (two), and only Dominic Calvert-Lewin (nine) won more duels for the Toffees than the Belgium international (eight).

Dyche handed Onana the responsibility to press, and he won possession twice in Arsenal's defensive third. His recoveries tally finished at eight, including a well-timed intervention that resulted in the 21-year-old teeing up a fantastic chance for Calvert-Lewin.

Everton's new manager noted in his post-game press conference that Onana still had plenty to learn, but the signs are promising.

Gueye, meanwhile, thrived in his best role in front of the defence. Too often under Lampard, the 33-year-old was losing the ball in dangerous areas, but against the Gunners he completed all 25 of his passes.

One swallow does not make a summer, of course, and Everton have a lot of work to do to drag themselves out of danger. 

Everton are likely to lack Calvert-Lewin due to injury, whereas Liverpool still have a star-studded forward line to choose from. If Klopp's men can get a foothold in the middle of the pitch, another derby win should be theirs.

Indeed, given Everton have only won one of their last 22 league visits to Anfield, Liverpool still have to be considered huge favourites.

However, if Dyche can get his midfield to perform as they did against Arsenal, then Everton might just fancy their chances of getting something.

Liverpool supporters can be forgiven for already thinking ahead to next season after what has been a terrible 2022-23 campaign to date.

Out of both domestic cup competitions and down in 10th in the Premier League, only a Champions League last-16 tie with Real Madrid is keeping the Reds' season alive.

While questions have been asked of manager Jurgen Klopp's future, the German looks set to stay on at Anfield after reportedly being given the necessary funds to rebuild the squad. 

With several key players such as Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk all in or approaching their 30s, a major overhaul may well be required.

TOP STORY – KLOPP TO STAY ON AT ANFIELD

According to The Telegraph, Liverpool's owners will provide Klopp with "significant funds" to freshen up the Reds' ageing squad ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.

That could mean a number of established stars being moved on to make room for the likes of Jude Bellingham and Matheus Nunes, who are both high on Klopp's wanted list.

The report also suggests Liverpool are close to bringing in a successor to head of research Ian Graham, who helped identify Salah, Sadio Mane and Andrew Robertson as previous targets.

Klopp is said to be happy with the assurances received from his bosses as he plans ahead for what would be his ninth season in charge at Anfield.

ROUND-UP

- Real Madrid are interested in signing Kingsley Coman, but Bayern Munich will not sell for anything less than €100million, according to Sky Germany. Coman still has four and a half years to run on the contract he signed in January 2022.

- Should Coman depart, the same report indicates Bundesliga leaders Bayern may turn their focus to Borussia Monchengladbach's Randal Kolo Muani, who is valued at the same figure.

- According to Spanish outlet El Nacional, Madrid turned down a big-money offer from Paris Saint-Germain to sign Vinicius Junior last year. French champions PSG are said to have offered as much as €135m, which Los Blancos president Florentino Perez shot down.

- Chelsea chiefs are resigned to losing Mason Mount at the end of the season, per The Telegraph. Academy product Mount is due to be out of contract next year and has been unable to agree fresh terms with the Blues.

- Fabrizio Romano claims Reiss Nelson's future remains undecided as talks over a new deal with Arsenal are not at an advanced stage. The 23-year-old, who has been restricted to just two substitute appearances in the Premier League this season, is set to become a free agent in July as things stand.

Liverpool and Newcastle United are reportedly among the Premier League teams exploring a potential move for Bayer Leverkusen centre-back Jonathan Tah – and the interest could be mutual.

Tah, 26, is in his eighth season in Leverkusen after arriving ahead of the 2015-16 campaign, racking up 283 appearances in all competitions and earning 16 senior international caps for Germany.

After five consecutive seasons finishing in the Bundesliga's top-six, Leverkusen have struggled this campaign, with just seven wins and a negative goal difference after 19 games, leaving them 10th.

Facing an uphill battle for any European football next season, the club will reportedly struggle to convince Tah to stick around, especially with plenty of interest from his desired landing spot in the Premier League.

TOP STORY – TAH SETS HIS SIGHTS ON THE PREMIER LEAGUE

According to 90min, Tah is "keen to take his talents to England at the end of the season".

He has two more seasons on his contract, tying him to Leverkusen until 2025, leaving the club with a difficult decision about whether to hang on to one of their top players or cash in and use the funds to improve the squad.

As well as Liverpool and Newcastle, West Ham are also understood to have touched base with Leverkusen about Tah's availability in January, while his name also came up in discussions with Tottenham, but they are said to prefer his centre-back partner Piero Hincapie.

ROUND-UP

– The Mirror is reporting Tottenham are admirers of 26-year-old Leicester City midfielder James Maddison. 

– According to El Nacional, Real Madrid have held talks with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp about potentially taking over from Carlo Ancelotti at the end of the season, and Klopp is said to have requested the Spanish giants pursue Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe.

– Milan have an interest in signing 27-year-old Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita, per the Mirror, while the Daily Mail adds the Italian side are also impressed by 21-year-old Arsenal loanee Folarin Balogun, who has 14 Ligue 1 goals for Reims this season.

– Manchester United and Newcastle are said to be two of many clubs keeping a close eye on 18-year-old Royal Antwerp prospect Arthur Vermeeren, per the Daily Mail.

– Fabrizio Romano is reporting United, Arsenal and Liverpool have all held talks with the agent of 20-year-old Barcelona forward Ansu Fati.

Jurgen Klopp ruled out rushing into the transfer market to boost Liverpool's flagging season after the holders suffered FA Cup elimination at Brighton and Hove Albion.

With a deadline for mid-season deals coming up on Tuesday, Klopp declared there would be no new faces arriving at Anfield.

Klopp told beIN Sports: "No, nothing will happen in this transfer window, that's all."

Liverpool's last trophy hope for this campaign lies in the Champions League, where they face Real Madrid at the last-16 stage, having lost to the Spanish giants in last year's final.

The Reds are out of both domestic cups and sit only ninth in the Premier League, having won just eight of their opening 19 games in the competition. Across all competitions, they have already lost nine times in 31 outings this term.

Klopp picked fault in the body language of several of his players in the 2-1 fourth-round loss to the Seagulls, which followed 15 days on from a 3-0 league defeat to the same opposition at the Amex Stadium.

He also wrote off Liverpool's set-piece defending as a major disappointment, with Brighton twice punishing the Reds from such situations.

"That doesn’t feel great, obviously. That's not cool, but we have to take it," Klopp said in his post-match press conference.

He added: "We have still space for improvement. We make steps, but we have to improve, we have to improve further on and that's what we will do."

Klopp felt the performance of his players on Sunday was far better than in their league display against Brighton, but these are small comforts.

Liverpool are in a crisis that is only deepening as their German boss fails to deliver results, despite being backed in the transfer market, with Dutch World Cup star Cody Gakpo arriving this month from PSV.

They face Wolves in the league next weekend, before a derby against Everton and a trip to high-flying Newcastle United precede the Champions League first leg against Madrid.

"If we are in a better situation, 10 points more in the league and stuff like this and then you lose here at Brighton, you just say, 'Respect'. What they do is really good," Klopp said.

"But we are obviously in a situation where we constantly want to make the final step, and that's why it feels now especially bad in this moment because it didn't happen.

"But there were, again, steps in the right direction. You can imagine nobody wants to hear that any more, I cannot hear it any more, but it's still right. That means we have to go from there.

"We have to improve, we have to do better, the body language with a couple of boys has to be much better, defending in the formation has to be better from a few."

Klopp felt Liverpool lacked a little luck, with Lewis Dunk deflecting in Brighton's leveller from Tariq Lamptey's shot before the winner came from Kaoru Mitoma in second-half stoppage time.

"You should not forget that," said Klopp, "but we are still out and that's obviously the worst outcome of a game you can have."

Kaoru Mitoma's stunning stoppage-time winner secured Brighton and Hove Albion a 2-1 win over Liverpool on Sunday to dump the holders out of the FA Cup.

The tie appeared to be heading back to Anfield for a replay with the game finely poised at 1-1, but the in-form Mitoma netted a spectacular late goal to put Brighton into the fifth round.

Liverpool took the lead via Harvey Elliott during an entertaining first half, but Brighton were good value for Lewis Dunk's fortuitous equaliser nine minutes later.

Brighton's continued positivity in the second half looked to set to go unrewarded, but Mitoma's ball juggling and cool finish sparked bedlam at the Amex Stadium as Liverpool's FA Cup defence crumbled.

Jurgen Klopp defended himself from criticism amid a difficult season for Liverpool as he insisted he did not become a "bad manager overnight".

Liverpool are ninth in the Premier League at the season's halfway point, trailing leaders Arsenal by 21 points and fourth-placed Manchester United – who have played a game extra – by 10.

It is a far cry from last season when they entered the final weeks of the campaign with the possibility of winning four trophies.

They ended up with an FA Cup and EFL Cup double, losing out to Manchester City in the Premier League and Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

Liverpool have been badly impacted by injuries throughout the season, while some key players have struggled for form.

A lot of the criticism is falling at the feet of Klopp, but he spoke defiantly ahead of Sunday's FA Cup fourth-round clash with Brighton and Hove Albion.

"I didn't become a bad manager overnight," Klopp told reporters. "I was never as good as people probably said or not as bad as some people might think.

"But imagine if you [the media] were here today talking to another coach of Liverpool because last season we'd won all four trophies and I said, 'See you later, [I'm going on] holiday!'.

"Imagine if you saw a different [manager] and he has to explain these things and he tells you how it is. Nobody would listen!

"They'd say last season was great and this year is not great – so go!

"You have to have wide shoulders and really just take it. It's tough, I'm sorry, but we will go for it with all we have to get out of it and then play in a way that the people can't wait to go to the stadium again.

"Hopefully we can get through this together and get much closer again. From there we all know anything can happen.

"So far, we've not given the fans much this season, but we are still in two cup competitions, and we'll not give up in the league. Why should we?

"Other teams are doing really well and we respect them a lot, but we want to beat them and I will see how we can do that at Brighton."

Klopp does not want to blame Liverpool's problems entirely on their injury woes, though at the very least he believes they would be much closer to the top four had the likes of Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota not missed the majority of the season up to now.

"It was clear it would be difficult, but with lesser injuries I think we can agree we could easily have had at least five points more," he added.

"Okay, that still wouldn't make a brilliant season, but we would be fighting for the Champions League. That's a normal season.

"But injuries to decisive players have made it an especially average or bad season so far, and you cannot just replace them.

"On top of that, if you don't have time to train and you have three days until the next game, it's not like you can invent football in those one and a half sessions."

Mohamed Salah is "suffering" after seeing Liverpool's "well-drilled machine" frontline disbanded this season, according to Jurgen Klopp.

Sadio Mane left for Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich prior to this term, while Roberto Firmino has seen his role diminished after the arrival of Darwin Nunez and more recently Cody Gakpo.

Egypt international Salah remains the constant in Klopp's front three, though he has struggled in front of goal this campaign – converting just 11.7 per cent of his chances for seven Premier League goals.

That mark may seem poor for the three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner, whose previous lowest conversion rate for Liverpool was 14.4 per cent when he scored 19 in the 2019-20 campaign.

"Of course he is suffering," said Klopp ahead of Sunday's FA Cup fourth-round clash with in-form Brighton and Hove Albion. "It is specific, offensive play that requires a lot of work and a lot of information."

Salah, Firmino and Mane fired Liverpool to a Champions League crown and the Premier League title, though that front three are now a distant memory at Anfield.

"It was a well-drilled machine the front three, everything was clear what we were doing," the German added.

"You create a feeling about a lot of these things, about where your team-mate is and where to pass the ball without looking."

Gakpo and Nunez are among the new faces tasked with reinventing Liverpool's attacking fortunes but Klopp acknowledged it will take time for his side to adapt.

"Now we have Cody as a really important asset, like a connector, he can play the wing and the centre as well," he added.

"When Darwin is playing there he is obviously more high up, going in behind. We never played with a nine before, even when Sadio played in the position he was dropping in moments.

"It is all good if they would all be in and we could build something, but we haven't been able to do that yet."

Diogo Jota is nearing a return to bolster a Reds attacking line-up in desperate need of some form, yet Klopp believes Liverpool – who are ninth in the league – have greater concerns than a misfiring attack.

"If you had scored hundreds of goals in the past and now you are not scoring then that is the first thing you would think about but that is not our problem at the moment," he said.

"But usually you have a real basis to build on and that is what we don't have. The problem is you need time and nobody wants to invest time.

"I wish everything would be easier again and that already we had qualified for finals at the end of the season. This situation is not perfect but the basis of the last two games is something I like."

Jurgen Klopp once again lamented Liverpool's fixture list and suggested FA Cup ties should not be played on weekend days.

Liverpool head to Brighton and Hove Albion in the fourth round on Sunday, eight days on from their most recent match – a 0-0 Premier League draw with Chelsea.

It has been a rare week off for Klopp's men, who won both the FA Cup and EFL Cup last season, but the German is still not entirely pleased with his side's schedule.

"We're not famous for going long in the cups, apart from last year," he said at Friday's pre-match press conference. "Cups are difficult when you have midweek games.

"Now we have full weeks to prepare, but in our schedule, I'm not sure the FA Cup should be at a weekend. But we deal with it. It's not a problem for now."

Liverpool are aiming to avoid successive losses against Brighton for the first time ever following their 3-0 league defeat at the Amex Stadium earlier this month.

Klopp described that performance at the time as the worst he has ever seen from one of his sides in a coaching career spanning 1,000 matches.

The Reds have since defeated Wolves 1-0 in the previous round of the FA Cup and played out a stalemate with Chelsea, which leaves them ninth in the league.

While his side have won just one of their five matches this calendar year, Klopp is glad they have kept back-to-back clean sheets for only the second time this season.

"Clean sheets are massive for us. Everyone waits for free-flowing performance but that takes time and it starts with clean sheets," Klopp said.

"That Brighton game is still the worst game I have ever seen of a team of mine. Thank god as we have played a few games since then.

"The first half against Chelsea we were very disciplined and we didn't give them a lot. We have to do that again against Brighton, of course."

Liverpool have progressed from three of their five FA Cup games against Brighton, most recently winning 6-1 in a last-16 tie in February 2012.

However, since the 1925-26 season, only Wolves (30), Sheffield United (28) and West Ham (27) have suffered more fourth-round exits than Liverpool (26).

The Reds make the trip to England's south coast with a number of players still injured, but Klopp confirmed some key men are closing in on a return.

"Diogo [Jota], Bobby [Roberto Firmino] and Virgil [van Dijk] are a couple of weeks from joining training," he said.

"Arthur [Melo] is running a lot, so maybe two or three weeks before he joins team training, but he is looking good. Fabio Carvalho is still out and is not ready for Sunday."

Jurgen Klopp welcomed the return of the "passion" Liverpool have been lacking as a much-changed side beat Wolves 1-0 in an FA Cup third-round replay at Molineux.

Reds manager Klopp made eight changes to his starting line-up following an alarming 3-0 Premier League defeat at Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.

Harvey Elliott was among the players who came into the side and the teenager proved to be the match-winner, scoring the only goal with a stunning long-range strike in the 13th minute.

A first win in four matches gives the holders an opportunity to exact revenge on Brighton in a fourth-round tie at the Amex Stadium.

It was anything but a classic all-Premier League tie after a 2-2 draw at Anfield ensured the two sides had to do battle again, but Klopp was not concerned about entertainment value. 

He told BBC Sport: "It feels like ages ago we had a feeling of winning and playing well. We had to fight hard at the end, which we controlled for long periods. It is great and the reaction we wanted to see."

Klopp vowed he would not quit after the defeat to Brighton and urged his players to go "back to basics".

The German was impressed with the way they responded to a painful loss last weekend.

 "From the passion we showed, yes," he said. "It is my job to help the boys and find the formation where they feel good from the start. Stefan Bajcetic and the whole midfield was really compact, so it was difficult for Wolves to find the key players like Joao Moutinho. I liked the game a lot."

Elliott was named man of the match, but Klopp felt several of his players were candidates for the award.

He added: "It was good from Harvey Elliott, especially after an early knock to the ankle. He fought through, and the goal was exceptional.

"I had a few man of the match performances today. We played a really good first half, had good periods in the second, and in the end it was just passion to block the shots. A cup game, great."

Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool must "go back to basics" after they were thumped 3-0 by Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.

A Solly March double and a sublime Danny Welbeck strike condemned Liverpool to a sixth Premier League defeat of the season, with Klopp conceding afterwards that he was "very concerned".

The result left Liverpool ninth in the table, 10 points adrift of the top four having run Manchester City to within a point of the title last season.

The defensive performance at the Amex Stadium was particularly worrying, with Brighton holding 61.9 per cent of the possession and recording 16 shots at Alisson's goal.

Klopp acknowledged Liverpool needed to improve at the back ahead of his side's FA Cup third-round replay at Molineux on Tuesday, following the teams' 2-2 draw at Anfield on January 7.

"These are football problems, and you solve them with football," Klopp said. "To play better football than we did at Brighton should not be that difficult.

"We have to be compact, we have to defend. The pitch looks too big when we are defending.

"You always go back to basics. From there, you can make steps. All the success in football starts with solid defending, and that's what we have to do again.

"We have a lot of things to consider, we have two senior strikers available. We have to find solutions, that's what we do pretty much every day."

While this season has not gone to plan for Liverpool, they have the opportunity against Wolves to get their name into the hat for the FA Cup fourth round, as they bid to retain the trophy after beating Chelsea on penalties in last season's final.

They also have a chance to get revenge on Real Madrid for their 2021-22 Champions League final defeat with the teams set to meet in the round of 16.

Despite the poor first half of the campaign, Klopp does not feel Liverpool need a total rebuild, saying: "Too often this season, we didn't play to our potential. That's the truth.

"We had games that we played really well, but not often enough to be successful.

"We don't want to turn time back, we don't want to start at nil. It's not nil, but we have to start again.

"The good thing about a long career is that it's not the first time I've had a situation like this."

Jurgen Klopp refused to put the blame for Liverpool's FA Cup draw with Wolves on mistakes made by Alisson.

The Brazilian was at fault for Wolves' first goal, handing Goncalo Guedes an easy finish with a direct pass, while he also conceded a soft second to Hwang Hee-chan.

Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah both struck to ensure the holders did not suffer a shock third-round exit, but their combined efforts were not enough to prevent a replay at Molineux.

Speaking afterwards however, Klopp did not lay their problems at the feet of his goalkeeper, instead praising what Wolves brought to the table in an engaging contest throughout at Anfield.

"The goal should not happen, but we all know how often Ali saves our backsides," he told ITV Sport. "They had counter-attacks before then [too].

"It is always dangerous when [Adama] Traore gets the ball, we could see that. We came back with a fantastic equaliser. They got a foot in the game, and they caused us massive problems."

Liverpool came closest to an exit when Toti Gomes saw a finish controversially ruled out by the linesman's flag, with VAR unable to offer enough angles to confirm whether Gomes was onside.

The decision sparked a furious reaction from Julen Lopetegui, and Klopp acknowledged it was not an ideal situation for both teams.

"I'm not sure about their third goal," he added. "We have one picture where it may look offside.

"I can understand why they are angry about it. We don't want the VAR to just have one angle."

Cody Gakpo enjoyed a solid debut following his arrival from PSV, and Klopp was warm in his praise for the Dutchman.

"He fitted into the game," he added. "It was not easy for a first step. We cannot expect it to be perfect.

"He showed good signs. We have to get him in better positions, but that will come, no doubt."

Jurgen Klopp has reiterated his support for scrapping FA Cup replays ahead of holders Liverpool facing Wolves in the third round on Saturday.

Klopp has repeatedly called for FA Cup replays to be abolished in the past, and memorably allowed then-under-23s coach Neil Critchley to take charge of team made up entirely of youth players when Liverpool were taken to a second fixture by Shrewsbury Town in 2020.

FA Cup replays were removed for the 2020-21 season to avoid creating further fixture congestion in a campaign heavily impacted by COVID-19, and a report from The Times said leading figures in the English game discussed doing so permanently on Friday.

Klopp would be in favour of such a move, though acknowledged it would need to be accompanied by support for the smaller clubs that benefit from them financially. 

Asked if he would support the removal of replays at Friday's news conference, Klopp said: "Yeah, as always.

"We have to find other solutions. The lifeline for smaller clubs cannot be problems for the clubs that play every three days.

"There must be other solutions, and how often did it happen that a smaller club came through because of this extra game? 

"There's money involved, I understand that, and nobody wants to kill the smaller clubs, they have the same right to exist as all of us.

"But we cannot solve all the problems by playing more games – that's not possible and that's why I would be in favour of that, but I've said so many things in the last seven-and-a-half years and not many have happened."

Meanwhile, with Liverpool having a full week to prepare for their Premier League trip to Brighton and Hove Albion after facing Wolves, Klopp is not planning to make sweeping changes.

Asked how he would approach his team selection for Saturday's game, Klopp said: "It doesn't change. The only time it will change is with the amount of games around, so if you play say, Saturday then Tuesday, you have to think about it.

"In our case, we played Monday last time, then Saturday, then Saturday again. So it's clear we will line up as good, as strong and as experienced as we can. There will not be rotation because of the competition or whatever, no."

Liverpool ended a 16-year wait to lift the FA Cup last season, beating Chelsea in a penalty shoot-out following a goalless draw at Wembley Stadium – as they did in the EFL Cup final.

However, Wolves have eliminated Liverpool from the competition twice during Klopp's time in charge, beating them 2-1 as a Championship side at Anfield in 2017 before winning by the same scoreline at Molineux two years later.

Virgil van Dijk will be out of action for over a month after sustaining a hamstring injury in Liverpool's defeat to Brentford earlier this week, Jurgen Klopp has confirmed.

Defender Van Dijk was one of three players substituted at half-time in Liverpool's damaging 3-1 loss at the Brentford Community Stadium, which saw them lose ground in the race for a top-four Premier League finish.

Klopp described Van Dijk's withdrawal as precautionary after the game, but reports later in the week suggested the Netherlands captain's injury was worse than initially feared.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's FA Cup third-round tie against Wolves, Klopp provided an estimated timeframe for Van Dijk's return and described his absence as a significant setback.

"On Virg, it's a surprise and obviously a big blow, as he didn't feel a lot," Klopp said at Friday's pre-match press conference. 

"I took him off actually, to avoid the risk, maybe he would have tried [to play on] and stuff like this.

"In the end, the diagnosis was pretty harsh. They talk about weeks – more than a month. 

"We have to see how it goes but we have other centre-halves. Everything is okay for the team but for Virg, it's hard for him. He's played an incredible amount of games over the last few years.

"We cannot use him on the pitch, only off the pitch, so we will do that."

Asked whether the congested festive fixture list had caused Van Dijk's injury, Klopp responded: "It's his hamstring. 

"He never had an issue with muscles or mentioned anything, between the games he was recovering.

"There's nothing to say about it, we did nothing different. It was one sprint."

As well as Saturday's meeting with Wolves, Van Dijk now appears likely to miss Premier League fixtures against Brighton and Hove Albion and Chelsea before the end of January.

Klopp will be desperate to have Van Dijk available for a crucial spell next month, in which Liverpool face Merseyside rivals Everton and fellow top-four contenders Newcastle United before playing the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Real Madrid.