Andy Robertson has warned his Liverpool teammates to ‘be ready’ for one thing in particular against Burnley this weekend.
The Reds are looking to get back to winning ways after suffering their second Premier League defeat of the season last time out with a 3-1 defeat at the Emirates.
The Clarets, meanwhile, are seven points adrift of safety after returning to the top-flight in the summer under the stewardship of former Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany.
Robertson is not expecting an easy game at Anfield on Saturday though, insisting that Jurgen Klopp’s side need to ‘be at 100 per cent’ to pick up all three points.
“I know how difficult it is to take the step up from the Championship to the Premier League, I’ve done it before and we were a pretty dominant team in the Championship when I was at Hull and then you come up to the Premier League and all of a sudden you’re playing against a completely different class of opponent,” our No.26 told Liverpoolfc.com. “But the thing I do know is when you are in a relegation battle as well, you fight for absolutely everything – and that’s exactly what they’ll do on Saturday and we have to be ready for that. They’re fighting for their lives down there and they want to stay in the Premier League. They’ll all get used to the perks of the Premier League, playing against big teams and things like that.
“They’ve obviously got a young but very experienced player-now-manager, he has done an incredible job for the time he has been there and he knows what it takes to do it in the Premier League and he knows what it’s like to come to Anfield, and we have to be ready for that.
“Now once you get to February/March, from my experience, the relegation battle starts heating up and you start fixture-watching and point-watching and you just fight for everything. I think that’s the stage they’re at and all the teams are at down at the bottom end of the league – and that’s what makes these games so difficult. It’s no secret how determined they’ll be to come and get a result and a performance against us, and it’s up to us to be at 100 per cent and make sure that doesn’t happen, and make sure we bring our ‘A’ game. If we do that, hopefully that’s enough for the three points.”
Burnley have some talented players at the top end of the pitch who will be eager to cause an upset on Merseyside.
By the time we kick-off against Burnley on Saturday we could be a point behind City who host Everton in the lunchtime game.
We need to put Sunday’s dismal performance against Arsenal behind us and ensure that we’re at it from the start to retain our spot at the top of the Premier League.
Robertson has featured as a substitute in our last two outings after returning from a shoulder which kept him out since October but he’ll be pushing for a starting spot against the Turf Moor-based outfit.
🕯️ EOTK Insider: A tribute to Alex South; a remarkable man with a special Kop moment