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Klopp hits out at Premier League over Newcastle takeover and scheduling of games

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes Newcastle will become another superpower in European foot...
Phil Egan
Phil Egan

12.17 15 Oct 2021


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Klopp hits out at Premier Leag...

Klopp hits out at Premier League over Newcastle takeover and scheduling of games

Phil Egan
Phil Egan

12.17 15 Oct 2021


Share this article


Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes Newcastle will become another superpower in European football after the Saudi-backed takeover of the club.

The takeover has been criticised by many due to the human rights record in Saudi Arabia and Klopp expects Newcastle to start challenging for major honours over the next few years.

"I was waiting for official statements from Richard Masters because obviously there are concerns about human rights, that is obvious," Klopp said at his press conference.

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"What will it mean for football? A few months we had an issue with clubs building a Super League, and rightly so.

"But this is building a super team, guaranteed places in the Champions League in a few years.

"Newcastle fans will love it, but money doesn't buy success. They have money to make mistakes, but they will be where they want eventually."

Republic of Ireland international Caoimhin Kelleher is set to start against Watford in the Premier League on Saturday after Klopp confirmed Alisson is unavailable this weekend after being away with Brazil on international duty.

Fabinho will also miss the trip the Vicarage Road and both players are set to fly directly to Spain ahead of Tuesday night's Champions League game away to Atletico Madrid

Klopp added: "Somebody decided to give Brazil the opportunity to play last night [Thursday] and then somebody made the decision for us to play on Saturday at 12:30. It's not in our hands.

"Atletico [Madrid] are not playing at the weekend and they are our next opponents in the Champions League.

"That would not happen here. We have known it for a while so we have decided that the boys would not be here and they would go straight to Madrid."

Klopp also criticised England manager Gareth Southgate for not including Joe Gomez in his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Hungary.

"Sometimes Gareth reacts if you are not playing for your club you can't play for the national team," he said.

Klopp pointed to the fact that John Stones played for England despite a lack of first-team opportunities at Manchester City this season.

"Obviously there is a special thing for Mr Stones. [Gomez] is in a top shape - he looks really good.

"I know that Gareth reacts on if players aren't playing regularly. He is an exceptional centre-half."

The Liverpool boss also admitted it's hard to know what to expect from Watford in their first match under Claudio Ranieri.

"When you look at their last game against Leeds when they lost, Watford had a good idea about the game," he said.

"They tried to build up with their football in wide positions, but the problem is when you lose the ball, the opposition has more space for counter attacks. That is why Leeds won.

"Claudio said he wants to close the spaces. It is six years since I came new to the club but I wanted to give stability.

"You want to start by making them compact and that is what we expect.

"If it is completely different, we have to deal with that. I do not have a crystal ball so we have to guess a little bit."


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Brazil Jurgen Klopp Liverpool Newcastle Premier League Richard Masters Watford

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