Jurgen Klopp says he will not be instructing the Liverpool players to try and get Diego Costa sent off this weekend.
Costa – who has already picked up three bookings this season – is known to have a short fuse, but Klopp is adamant that try to get him a red card is not part of his game plan.
“Being aggressive is important against Costa,” Klopp said. “If you are in a friendly game mood then you have no chance. (Echo)
“He is a real warrior on the pitch. He uses his body all the time – that is his quality. World class.
Costa is arguably lucky not to have already been sent off at some point this season. He rashly lunged into West Ham keeper Adrian with a studs-up challenge, and blatantly dived when on a booking against Watford.
“[Getting him a red] is not part of our preparation,” Klopp added.
“I never said in my life to a team: ‘he’s always close to a red card, do whatever you can so that he gets it’.”
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Of course, he also has history with Liverpool.
He stamped on Emre Can in the League Cup semi-final in 2015 and was retrospectively banned for three games, and he has also had numerous run-ins with Hendo.
This game just feels like we could see a red card for either side. We can only hope it isn’t us.