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Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool owe their supporters a big performance at Anfield on Tuesday night.

The Reds go into the crunch clash with Premier League leaders Chelsea in desperate need of a lift following three successive home defeats.

Klopps knows the fans will put aside recent setbacks to create an intimidating atmosphere for the visit of Antonio Conte’s title-chasers and he’s hoping a show of unity will help inspire Liverpool in their bid for a morale-boosting triumph.

“My impression is that the supporters are really still together,” Klopp said.

“It was good in and around the stadium on Saturday. The defeat wasn’t about the performance of the crowd.

“We haven’t given the crowd a lot to celebrate over the last few games but now is another chance. It’s important.

“It is a floodlit game at Anfield. It should be an outstanding atmosphere against the strongest side in the Premier League at this moment.

“In this game a lot of things will not work because you cannot come through always against Chelsea, it’s absolutely impossible. Be ready for this frustration and go for the next moment.

(Image: LIVERPOOL ECHO)

“You hear the difference in the stadium when you miss a chance and everyone goes ‘Aaargh, again?’ You can hear it. Or ‘Go Again!’ because now we know how to come through against them. It is exactly the same situation played in a different atmosphere. It would help to be positive.”

It’s the ninth and final game of a gruelling and torrid month for the Reds. They have taken just two points out of nine in the Premier League and crashed out of both domestic cups. They are bidding to avoid a fourth straight home defeat for the first time in 94 years.

We can be a real challenger

Klopp is adamant that talk of a crisis following Saturday’s FA Cup debacle against Wolves is unfair. He believes this is a squad capable of silencing the doubters and delivering a Champions League spot.

“We have actually played a very good Premier League season - not the best of all - but it’s still a very good season with a lot to go for,” he said.

“Even when we lost the last three games, I don’t want to ignore that but I cannot put it each morning in my back-pack and say it’s still here. It has to be gone, it’s over.

“The only good thing about these three games is that they are already played and now we can really go for the next one. This game is a big challenge for us, but with the help of everybody, we can be a real challenger.

“I don’t lose my faith in the players. I see the problems, I know about the problems and I don’t like the problems but I cannot always solve them before we have them. It’s about seeing it, working on it and getting better, because you have to use the bad moments to prepare for the good moments.

“Even when you have too many bad moments, it is no problem for me to stay positive. I am disappointed and frustrated after a game but I wake up the next morning and think about how to use what happened for the rest of the season. There is another game – go for it – and you need the right mood for it. I 100% believe it makes you more of a winner if you are looking forward to winning and not worrying about losing.”

This is undoubtedly the toughest spell of Klopp’s Anfield tenure but he insists that recent criticism doesn’t bother him. He took on a long-term project 15 months ago and knew it wouldn’t all be plain sailing.

I love driving to Melwood in the morning

“I am angry when we lose and when we lose three times it doesn’t make it any better. But I am not that silly that I think about what people write or say about it because my frustration is enough,” he said.

“If losing three games in a row is the lowest point that means there is only one direction to go. I’m not interested if people say ‘This is the lowest point under Klopp’. It is really not nice but from my side I love driving to Melwood in the morning, I love working with the players even when it is difficult because part of this game, even though nobody around Liverpool wants to hear it, is losing.

“If you lose you cannot stop. You have to go for the next game. Nobody wins every game in their life. It is all about the reaction and I am happy about how the players react and how we are working together.

“Before I did anything, everybody thought: ‘Yes! Now it works.’ And now we lost a few games, maybe a lot of people think: ‘That’s really disappointing.’ So I cannot change things. I know we need to change performances and result.

“Even if we did win the league this season and we didn’t next season, they will say ‘Oh, again.’ Who thought we would change everything in a second in a season where Chelsea plays the stars from the sky, as we say in Germany, which means ’very good’?

“Where’s our chance for development? If you don’t give us time for development, if you don’t give us time for improvement....

“As long as we really believe in a long term project while winning anything we can get in the short term – that’s what matters. And nobody should doubt we want this. We don’t say ‘FA Cup – give it away, it’s not important.’

“The main thing is to come into the position where we are THE team. At the moment, we are one of a few, which is better than being none of them. So we can go for a real high position at the end of the league season. We were eighth last season.

“Obviously we have to still work on this positive mood, staying in the race now, staying on track now, because there’s a lot to go for.”

In the short-term, Tuesday night feels pivotal. Win and the gloom will be lifted with Liverpool back to within seven points of the summit. Lose and Chelsea will be 13 points clear of Klopp’s side. The outcome will shape Liverpool’s ambitions for the months ahead.

There’s hope and belief to be taken not only from the Reds’ win at Stamford Bridge back in September but also their record against all their top-six rivals, which reads three wins and three draws so far this term.

“Yes, we have that record but it’s not the decisive thing,” Klopp added.

“The players and the coaching staff know how to play Chelsea, but you still have to do the right things in the right moment.

“If we are seven points behind Chelsea we cannot say ‘now we go for them’. They might win the rest of their games.

“That gap would obviously make the league that little bit more exciting for a lot of people but that means nothing. We want to go for these three points and that’s enough to be motivated at the highest, highest level.”