Jurgen Klopp thought someone was playing a practical joke on him when looking at Newcastle United's 6-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur last weekend. Liverpool are set to face their Champions League rivals in a must win game for both sides, if either want to qualify for the top-four come the end of the season.
The German head coach says he switched on the TV to see the Magpies winning 1-0, but head off to do something else and by the time he returned, Eddie Howe's side were five goals to the good. The Reds boss has hailed Newcastle's form in recent weeks and says individuals are shining for the Toon.
The Magpies are eight points clear of Spurs and nine points clear of Liverpool, but also have a game in hand on the North London outfit.
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Klopp told the Liverpool Echo: "The Newcastle game, I came home, switched the TV on and it was 1-0, I had something else to do and wanted to watch the game later, I came back and it was 5-0!
"I honestly thought there was something wrong with the screen, like someone had made a joke or something like that. I had to watch it back later.
"Newcastle is in a very good moment, you saw that [against Everton], individuals are really shining, full of confidence, so these kinds of things can happen. And then it was a normal game after that and it ended 1-1.
"So I never could in my life think like that, to find for yourself the right attitude in the game then you have to think the opponent is really strong. And they are strong."
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