Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says his side will face an early elimination from the Champions League this season unless their away form improves quickly. For a team which has reached successive finals, including the win over Tottenham last season, Liverpool’s record on the road in the group stage is terrible.
They have lost their last four away games, scoring only once, and have not won any of the previous five with the last victory on the road in Europe in the group stage at Maribor two years ago.
That success in Slovenia remains their only victory in the last 10 away group matches and Klopp admits that his side has got lucky.
Liverpool scraped through last season with a 1-0 win over Napoli in their final home game, three Anfield victories giving them nine points and second place in their group.
In this campaign they have again struggled away from Merseyside, losing their opening group game 2-0 in Napoli.
Liverpool are hot favourites to end that drought against Genk in Belgium this evening, and Klopp accepts they need to cure their away day blues quickly, otherwise their luck will soon run out. “Last year we were lucky with how tight the group was that we could lose three times away and still have a chance to make it through the group. That will not happen this year. It’s completely different,” said Klopp. “We don’t rely on home games or whatever. Obviously we like to say European nights at Anfield are really special but other teams can make a special atmosphere as well.”
Their away form is something of a mystery for a side which has reached back-to-back Champions League finals, winning their sixth European Cup against Tottenham in Madrid in June, and Klopp himself struggles to explain it. “We know it’s not historically good what we have done (in the away group games) in the last few years, but in general the Champions League was obviously really good. “We did the right things in the right moment but we don’t rely on these things. We know we have to improve and we try again and again and again until it works out.”
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