Klopp Hopes to Give Liverpool Season ‘A Little Push’ against Wolves

Football - Premier League - Crystal Palace v Liverpool - Selhurst Park, London, Britain - February 25, 2023 Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp reacts after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Crystal Palace v Liverpool - Selhurst Park, London, Britain - February 25, 2023 Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp reacts after the match. (Reuters)
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Klopp Hopes to Give Liverpool Season ‘A Little Push’ against Wolves

Football - Premier League - Crystal Palace v Liverpool - Selhurst Park, London, Britain - February 25, 2023 Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp reacts after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Crystal Palace v Liverpool - Selhurst Park, London, Britain - February 25, 2023 Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp reacts after the match. (Reuters)

Liverpool will play Wolverhampton Wanderers for a fourth time in 11 games and manager Jurgen Klopp said they will look to get their Premier League season back on track as they chase a top four spot in a "super important week".

Liverpool are seventh in the standings, nine points adrift of Tottenham Hotspur in fourth place, but Klopp's side have two games in hand, with arch rivals Manchester United visiting Anfield on Sunday.

Liverpool played Wolves twice in the FA Cup, winning the replay 1-0 before losing 3-0 in the reverse league fixture earlier this month and Klopp said he hoped to learn from their mistakes in that defeat.

"Nothing I saw in training suggests we don't have a chance. We know a lot about each other and we know it won't be easy. There won't be the most surprising information and we have to make sure we are ready," Klopp told reporters.

"It is a super important week, we cannot ignore that. We have two home games... I would love to give the season a little push this week and we need results for that. And for results we need good performances.

"The main difference is we will play at Anfield and we have to make that count. It's a long period between games, we want to put it right. But I am more focused on giving the season a proper push, we need to find a steady mood."

Liverpool still have several injuries, however, with influential midfielder Thiago Alcantara still sidelined with a hip problem while defender Joe Gomez is also ruled out with a muscle injury.

The club did receive a boost with Luis Diaz back in training after a knee injury but Klopp said the Colombian forward has not trained with the team yet.

Uruguayan striker Darwin Nunez is a doubt with a shoulder injury but Klopp said it was "massive" to have former Wolves winger Diogo Jota back after the Portugal international returned from a calf injury that had ruled him out of the World Cup.

"Diogo is an exceptional player. He needs to get rhythm now," Klopp said.

"He was tired after the game on Saturday (a 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace) and we have to see. He will definitely be involved again... He's a top class player, versatile, helpful for this busy period."



Osaka Earns First Grass Win of the Season with Victory over Qualifier Danilovic

Japan's Naomi Osaka returns the ball to Russia's Ludmilla Samsonova during the Berlin WTA tennis tournament in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)
Japan's Naomi Osaka returns the ball to Russia's Ludmilla Samsonova during the Berlin WTA tennis tournament in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)
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Osaka Earns First Grass Win of the Season with Victory over Qualifier Danilovic

Japan's Naomi Osaka returns the ball to Russia's Ludmilla Samsonova during the Berlin WTA tennis tournament in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)
Japan's Naomi Osaka returns the ball to Russia's Ludmilla Samsonova during the Berlin WTA tennis tournament in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)

Four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka fired 16 aces past Serbian qualifier Olga Danilovic to earn a 7-6(6) 7-6(4) victory at the Bad Homburg Open on Monday for her first win on grass this season less than a week before the start of Wimbledon.

The 27-year-old Japanese player, who had lost in the first round at her last two tournaments -- the French Open and the Berlin Open -- had won her first title in May in almost two years following a maternity break.

Osaka, who had reached the third round of the Australian Open in January before retiring injured, has not had back-to-back wins on any surface since the Italian Open in May. She is currently ranked 56th in the world.

"It's my first grasscourt win of the year," Reuters quoted Osaka as saying. "I am excited about that. I am super excited to play here and be back for my next round."

Asked whether she was on track to improve her form on the surface, she said: "I hope so. I think I have potential but everyone is really good so I cannot take it for granted."

The pair held serve to take the first set into a tiebreak where Osaka snatched it on her second set point.

Osaka was 40-0 up on her opponent's serve at 2-2 in the second set but she could not bag the first break of either player in the match, with Danilovic holding serve with her eighth ace of the match.

Osaka, however, got the mini-break she needed in the tiebreak when she challenged a Danilovic first serve that was then ruled out, with the qualifier then double-faulting.

She held on to that slim advantage to earn a spot in the round of 16 where she will face fifth-seed Emma Navarro.

Russian eighth-seed Ekaterina Alexandrova also eased into the next round with a 6-1 6-2 win over Swiss Belinda Bencic.

Croatia's Donna Vekic made equally light work of sixth seed southpaw Diana Shnaider for a 6-3 6-3 victory.

Clara Tauson of Denmark needed to work harder and battle from a set down before snatching a 6-7(6) 6-3 6-3 against Poland's Magdalena Frech.