Jurgen Klopp targets West Brom for Liverpool backlash

A swashbuckling 4-3 victory over a previously unbeaten Manchester City side that actually should have been far more comfortable was followed up with an infuriating 1-0 defeat away at bottom club Swansea.

Irresistible going forward and unplayable at times, they are also fallible at the back, and certainly beatable.

Just when it looked like Klopp had cracked it, they fell back into old habits.

An 18-game unbeaten run in all competitions had restored faith in the German up north following a tricky start to the season, but Monday’s defeat to the Swans has brought them crashing back down to earth and fourth place in the league.

The worry for Albion is that they will catch the backlash in the FA Cup.

“We have to strike back immediately,” said Klopp, after the Swansea defeat. “That’s what we will do.

“I don’t forget what the boys delivered in the last few weeks and months but, for the moment, it doesn’t help.

“We need to feel both – it’s not about thinking about what we did well. We need to deliver all the time, we know that, and we didn’t deliver.”

Liverpool have an abundance of attacking powers at their disposal, so much so, that Albion have enquired about two of their strikers this month.

But the Reds have declined their loan offers for both Danny Ings and Daniel Sturridge so far.

Ings came off the bench at Swansea when Klopp was searching for an equaliser and could play a part this weekend.

Sturridge is also expected to feature after a potential loan move to Inter Milan broke down because the forward would prefer to join Sevilla.

Inter have agreed to cover all of his wages until May – something Albion could not afford to do due to the short-term cost control element of Financial Fair Play – and are also willing to pay a £2million loan fee.

Although Sturridge and Ings could feature, the game is likely to come too early for left-back Alberto Moreno, who has been out of action since the start of December with an ankle injury.

Moreno is back in training but will probably not be risked.

He said: “I can still feel it’s not quite right but it’s getting better every day and the good thing is that I’m training with the rest of the group.

“We’re just waiting for this little discomfort to go away and then I’ll be raring to go.”

Andrew Robertson has impressed at left-back in Moreno’s absence and James Milner can also fill in that position.

Klopp has been rotating his squad this month and could also rest some of his big hitters.