Press conferenceJürgen Klopp assesses Man City test, Firmino's form, confidence and more

The Reds host the reigning champions at Anfield on Sunday afternoon as they look to build on the 7-1 Champions League victory against Rangers in midweek.

Klopp answered questions from journalists at the AXA Training Centre on Friday morning – read on for a summary of his briefing…

On what the win at Rangers does for confidence...

I don't know. I know why everybody makes now such a fuss of it, of course it changed the mood but I didn't then go in the press conference and say, 'Oh, it changed the mood massively.' I got asked the question, somebody asked me the question, I said, 'Of course it changed the mood, how couldn't it?' But we are not, even when people think that maybe [we are], that dumb that we think that's the only thing we needed to beat Man City. Nothing really to do with that. We still have to figure out who is available after the Rangers game for the City game and then we will make a line-up and then we will go in there. If we would have lost, we would have given it a try. And now we give it a try at Anfield with our people in our back against the best football team in the world. That's a big challenge, but it always was and will always be. We always were looking forward to it and do this time.

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On whether 'there's a concern about conceding the first goal' and if there's any 'special plans' for Erling Haaland...

So, first goal conceding, is it a concern? Look at the situation, we played really good football in the early stages of the [Rangers] game and in this moment where we lose the ball, in the moment where every team in the world opens up the pitch in the moment when you start playing, and that's what we did. We lost the ball in a moment where we're not compact because we couldn't be compact, and two passes later Arfield is alone in front of the goal. So these things can happen unfortunately if you lose the ball in the wrong moment and that's what happened there.

Special plans against Haaland? Like always, obviously when you play against, for sure in the moment, the best striker in the world, you have to make sure that he doesn't get that many balls – and that's what you have to defend before you come into the challenge with him, so that's what we will try. But against City obviously the problem is you if you close Haaland down with too many players then you open up gaps for all the other world-class players, so that will not make life easier. But it's a challenge, it's a football problem and we try to find solutions.

On Roberto Firmino...

Bobby is in a really good moment. I'm really, really happy for him, really, really happy for him. Even when it's for us obviously not the best moment we've ever had, it's helpful when these boys at least still know where the goal is. We just need to spread the goals a bit more to different games, let me say it like this! We should not focus on one, nine and then seven and then nil – but we know that. How I said, positive things always help all of us and footballers as well.

On facing Man City...

Look, when you play City, results left and right are not really important because this game requires all your focus, requires all the things you know about football. It's everything. I said it a couple of times, I enjoy preparing the game really but it's anyway the biggest challenge you can face in football. Football is all about closing down spaces, closing down players, having challenges in the right areas, these kind of things. And with City, it's always if you close them down here, then they are there and if you close that gap, you open up that gap – because the pitch is so big and we only have 10 players to close all the gap. So, always a challenge. What I want to say with that, it's not that we now feel different or whatever. It's a home game, it's Anfield, it's us against Man City. Yes, they are in the moment, definitely, the best football team in the world, that's how it is, but we will give it a try anyway, knowing there are no guarantees. But we know we get help from a full Anfield and we try to use that.

On how much he 'enjoys' going up against Pep Guardiola and his team...

Very much, very much. It's not that I don't enjoy playing other games, but this is just a different challenge because they are good everywhere, so that's how it is. There are no weak points where you say, 'OK, we can do that and they might struggle here or here.' There's not a lot, to be honest, but that's why they are the team they are. No, it's a job to do, that's what we do. Yes, we know obviously we have a couple of good results against them – not enough for winning the title more often – but most of the games we were really in the game and that was always very important. First and foremost, you have to be in the game, you need to have your own moments. There are moments where you have to suffer – it's always the case – where they make you run, but there are other moments where you have to be dominant as well and that's what we will try. Find the right balance for these moments is the challenge.

On Firmino's goalscoring form...

Look, in our situation nobody played the season he should have played yet. Yes, Bobby numbers-wise it is like this but now he scored [against Rangers] two and two against Bournemouth. Bobby is an exceptional player, I think nobody said it more often than I said it. But it's like this, it's not like Bobby was flying in all the games. So now we take the numbers and say, 'That's the best start in a season.' That might be statistically the case but we as a team didn't have the best start in our lives and that's for different reasons. But this moment helps, of course, now scoring two. Loved the first goal, loved the second goal, which was [from] an incredible cross by Joey but that Bobby's there makes a difference. If you score before a goal, then you arrived in that moment in the right moment, then you have the drive to be in the back of the defender to get the foot on the ball. Then you hit the ball and the ball goes through the legs of the goalie. In other games, the ball goes through the legs of the goalie and it's out and you think, 'How can that happen?' So these kind of things, you have to be in these situations as often as somehow possible.

Nothing changed really for Bobby. Bobby always played when he was fit in this team, he always contributed when he was fit, all these kind of things. But we have to do it again and again and again. There were a lot of positive moments but again, with all respect to Rangers, we know there's a big gap between Rangers and Manchester City, so we have to prepare the game in a different way of course – but with aspects of that and using the positive feeling we have now. But that alone will not give us anything against City. In the last few years, we always were pretty brave against City. So now we realised before we changed system that this bravery in defending led a little bit to a few gaps we couldn't close in the moment.

How I said, we have to see who we can line up for Sunday. We cannot just make decisions and say, 'Everybody is available.' They are not and we have to make sure that we are the best defending unit we can be in the moments when they are in possession, and that means everything. That means deep defending, that means high press, that means midfield press, that means all the different areas where you have to defend them and where you can cause them problems. That's what we have to figure out – which are the right moments, where we should we go for them and where do we have to let them come a little bit, these kind of things.

And then when you have the ball, you need everybody in an ideal world full of confidence, being cheeky, being flexible, pass the ball. So you could see in the game now, we played a good game at Rangers. Even when we were 1-0 down, the football we played against a defensive unit was really, really good. Harvey and Fabio were really involved in that, were really flexible. Both sixes did really well and that was really helpful. That's what you have to do – you have to pass the ball around and let them defend as well. Usually the problem is that they are that impressive and dangerous in all the things they do that sometimes you forget that you can cause them problems as well – that's a normal reaction on pressure. But we have to remind ourselves that's possible and then we will see what we can do with that.

On whether everyone came through the Rangers game fitness-wise...

We have to see. There are no final decisions yet but we have to see.