ReactionAlisson: Sometimes you just have to defend with your heart and passion

After battling to a vital 2-1 Premier League victory over Aston Villa on Tuesday, the Reds now quickly turn their attention to an Emirates FA Cup final meeting with Chelsea on Saturday afternoon.

Jürgen Klopp’s men remain in the hunt on three more trophy fronts this season, having already toppled the Blues at Wembley in the Carabao Cup showpiece in February.

Alisson has praised the way Liverpool continue to give absolutely everything they have in the pursuit of more silverware.

Read on for the No.1's post-Villa interview with Liverpoolfc.com…

On the Villa game being a reminder of how tough the Premier League is…

Yes, that’s the Premier League, [it's] always difficult to play away from home against a really good team. They played really well, they gave 100 per cent, top players with quality and also a really intense team. We conceded early, and I think this is something we really need to improve a little bit to have more clear wins. All that matters, though, are the three points.

On Sadio Mane’s impressive run of form this year…

Sadio is amazing and all of the time he is helping us. I believe he is even more confident because of the Africa Cup of Nations title. He is scoring and helping us in the games, playing in a different position to what he was used to playing. A fantastic player for us and I’m really happy to have him in my team.

On the importance of a solid defence against Villa…

They tried everything to get a point or the victory. In the end, I believe they had their chances, but that’s how it works in the Premier League. Sometimes you just have to defend with your heart, with passion – and we did it again and we could get a positive result for us.

On the character required in the squad amid a hectic run of games…

Yes, sometimes it’s like this. Sometimes when you are tired, you just need to put into your mind you can go for extra. And if you go with passion and do everything that you can, you see normally that you have a little bit of energy. When you look to the players on your side as well, they play with intensity. Our team is a team that needs to play with passion because when we look to each other, it’s something that helps you and gives you extra energy.

On the FA Cup final against Chelsea…

I’m really looking forward to that. It’s my first FA Cup final and a trophy that this group hasn’t won yet. But we want to really win this title. It’s something that we set our targets on at the beginning of the season and now we’ve arrived here. We have a massive opportunity to win that and we will give it 100 per cent to try to do that.