On September 20, Liverpool ushered in the first round of the 2017-18 English League Cup.
But bad luck, the first opponent in the English League Cup ran into Leicester City.
Considering that there are league and Champions League games to be played on the 23rd and 27th, Klopp used a lot of young players in this game.
The result was surprising. The newbie was not afraid of tigers, and he actually tied with Leicester City, who had a small rotation, in regular and overtime.
But Liverpool was eventually eliminated by Leicester City in a penalty shootout, completely eliminating the burden of the EFL Cup.
Klopp's goal this season is very clear, which is to win the Champions League and Premier League titles.
This is a common goal reached by him and the top management of Liverpool. Other cup competitions must make way for the Champions League and the league.
On September 23, in the sixth round of the Premier League, Liverpool went to the King Power Stadium to face Leicester City.
After five rounds of the Premier League, Leicester City has one win, one draw and three losses. Their form continues the downturn of last season.
In this summer transfer window, they sent away the team's meritorious midfielder God Linkwater, and the buyer was Chelsea.
This has caused Leicester City's Super League hardness to drop again.
Although the Nigerian defensive midfielder Ndidi, bought at the beginning of this year, is in very good condition, the media is generally not optimistic about Leicester City's results this season.
But Klopp didn't think so. He studied Leicester City's new midfielder with the coaching staff before the game.
The conclusion is that Leicester City has found the best successor to Kante.
This Nigerian defensive midfielder has an extraordinary physical fitness.
Such excellent physical condition gives it extremely strong physical resistance.
Comparing from a defensive perspective, he is more comprehensive than Kanter. For example, when it comes to defending high-altitude balls, Kanter has no advantage at all.
Although his defensive area is not as terrifying as Kanter's, it is far greater than that of many defensive midfielders, covering the entire midfield. Moreover, his ability to sweep and intercept on the court is very good, and he is a typical B2B midfielder.
Not only that, at certain times, Ndidi can also participate in the team's offense after completing his defensive tasks.
Klopp has watched the highlights of Leicester City's games in the second half of last season. Endidi's midfield interception and ability to launch an attack with a long pass are definitely the key to Leicester City's escape from the relegation quagmire in the second half of last season.
A sharp weapon.
This is definitely a first-class midfielder with a lot of room for growth.
Of course, this is only a comparison from the defensive level. If compared in a comprehensive way, Ndidi is still not as good as Kanter.
Kante, who went to Chelsea, has developed his offensive attributes and become more comprehensive, capable of attacking and defending, which is absolutely unique.
When the war broke out between the two sides, Klopp was right. Liverpool's attack in the center was actually suppressed by Leicester City.
In Leicester City's 4141 single defensive midfielder lineup, Endidi showed off his characteristics of large defensive coverage, making many key interceptions and steals, destroying Liverpool's two excellent offensive opportunities.
In the 29th minute of the game, the goal was scored.
Jota retreated from the left to receive the ball, and Wijnaldum passed the ball before Endidi grabbed the ball.
But before Ruota's ball came to a stop, he felt a shadow coming over behind him, then stretched out a foot and stabbed the ball forward in an instant.
He was about to start chasing the ball, and then he felt scratched by a large truck and fell to the ground in an extremely embarrassed state.
The linesman was right next to him, and if he didn't take a look, a collision of this magnitude wouldn't even be considered a legitimate collision.
When the Leicester City fans saw Simpson's beautiful steal, they immediately stood up and cheered loudly.
At this time, in the Liverpool backcourt, only Van Dijk returned to defense in time. He was stuck in Simpson's passing line to Vardy.
Others just crossed the halfway line and were caught off guard by the sudden switch from offense to defense. Jota's loss of the ball was too sudden.
After Simpson dribbled the ball across the center line, he started to pass the ball directly without any hesitation.
Van Dyke guessed that Simpson would not be able to walk on the ground. The moment Simpson took off his feet, he jumped forward directly, but he still failed to hit the ball, just a little bit short.
The ball went around in front of him and turned into a curve ball.
In the middle, seeing the ball coming, Vardy accelerated again and opened the distance between him and Matip who was chasing after him. It was a one-on-one shot.
When Vardy faced Mignolet, he didn't hesitate at all and pushed directly into the far corner. The angle was extremely tricky and hit the inside net of the goal.
On the sidelines, Klopp shook his head. Jota was more than agile, but his physical confrontation ability was a disadvantage. If it were replaced by Mane, Simpson would only be asking for trouble.
As for Van Dijk, in Klopp's eyes, he has done a good enough defensive job.
After taking a one-goal lead, Leicester City became even more excited and frequently attacked Liverpool fans, but were repeatedly defused by Van Dijk.
As time went by and it was about to enter the intermission, something unexpected happened.
Ndidi suddenly appeared on the left side of the backcourt in Shaqiri's pass to Henderson and successfully intercepted it.
Then without any hesitation, he passed the ball directly to Chilwell on the wing who was participating in the pressing.
Chilwell met the ball and passed it directly into the Liverpool backcourt.
At the same time, Vardy, who was swimming in front of Arnold, suddenly started.
But Arnold was not slow either. After realizing the danger, he directly entangled Vardy.
On the sidelines, Klopp saw that Chilwell's pass was a little deep, and Mignolet had already left the penalty area and was preparing to make a clearance.
However, he never expected that in the next second, when Arnold kicked the ball out of the sideline, he hit Vardy with his thigh.
As a result, Vardy fell down and fell directly.
The referee's sharp whistle sounded, and he ran over and gave Arnold a yellow card.
On the sidelines, Klopp spread his hands and stared. He had no idea what Arnold's move was for.
Mignolet had already come out and kicked the ball out of the sideline in time to clear the ball. Arnold's foul action was completely unnecessary.
Fortunately, Vardy fell outside the penalty area, otherwise Arnold would have directly given Vardy a goal.
Obtaining a threatening free kick from this position, Leicester City only left one defensive player behind, and everyone else pressed into Liverpool's penalty area.
On Liverpool's side, all players returned to the penalty area to defend. It would be an injustice if they conceded another goal at this time.
The referee blew the whistle, and Mahrez took the set kick and went directly to Vardy in the front spot.
It was Wijnaldum who was marking Vardy, and he accidentally let Vardy squeeze in front of him.
After Vardy occupied a favorable position, he dived directly and headed the ball backwards.
Suddenly the ball changed direction and flew directly behind the goal post.
Although Mignolet, who was standing slightly to the right of the goal line, reacted quickly, Vardy's header was too tricky.
Although Mignolet touched the incoming ball with the fingertips of his left hand, he was unable to stop it in the end.
On the bench, when he saw Vardy scoring twice, Mo Yang directly covered his face.
Klopp also laughed helplessly, he had nothing to say.
What a bad luck!
The Red Army fans who followed the team to the King Power Stadium all looked depressed at this time, and some grumpy fans even started to curse.