Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has joked that the real winners from Liverpool's Super Cup win were their next Premier League opponents Southampton .

Jurgen Klopp knows that the worst preparation he could have had for any League games was having to play a tough fixture abroad less than 70 hours ahead of that game.

Liverpool's win over Chelsea in the so called Super Cup in Istanbul saw them play a tough 90 minutes followed by extra time and a penalty shoot out.

The trip to Turkey was about as far as you can go in Europe for a game and would mean that Liverpool would have had to have a day off from training today (Thursday) given that they would probably have left Istanbul in the early hours of this morning for a 4 hour or so flight back to the UK, arriving back in Liverpool just as their supporters were getting up for work.

Then on Friday Liverpool will be flying South for their game at St Mary's and although they would likely train this morning it i not ideal preparation for a trip to Southampton one of their longest trips of the season in the Premier League.

Klopp admitted as much to his opposite number in the Chelsea dug out Frank Lampard:

“After 90 minutes, when it was close to the final whistle and Frank Lampard asked me 'where do you play and when do you play (next)?' and I said 'Saturday at Southampton'!

“Nobody wanted extra time tonight. We will have to be ready again and that's my present to the players, to be able to help them recover so they are ready for the game.

“Let's try to find a way to win on Saturday, then we have Arsenal coming up. Both will be incredibly difficult for different reasons."

Liverpool at the moment although Saints fans don't like to admit it are one of the best sides in Europe, that being the case we need all the help that we can get whether it be an injury to their goalkeeper or a tough game on the far side of Europe almost in Asia, Klopp certainly realises that when he said:

“Only one team celebrated more than us tonight and that's probably Southampton when they saw 90 minutes, no decision!"

Photo: Action Images

codge added 12:31 - Aug 15 Finding it real hard to feel sorry for someone that gets paid thousands of pounds a week to kick a ball around for 120 minutes that has to go and have to do it again 3 days later,give me a break.
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1teeminants added 12:35 - Aug 15 If we can keep the score down to 0-4 I’ll be amazed. This could be 6 or 7 .
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saintnik added 13:34 - Aug 15 Like it make any difference to the outcome of the match on Saturday. Liverpool in second gear will easily beat our team of lightweights.
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SaintPaulVW added 13:38 - Aug 15 I reckon we'll do 'em. COYS! PS I wonder how many ex saints JK brings on this time. Total toolbag.
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BoondockSaint added 15:09 - Aug 15 I was really hoping some richer club(s) was going to grab a couple of their players this past summer thereby weakening them. I read one article (I think on SkySports) that suggested Man City offer a gigantic amount of cash for Van Dik.....a big enough number that the Scouse couldn't refuse because Van Dik and his agent would jump at it (The article did not say if the deal wasn't done, he would go on strike as he did at Saints, but it didn't have to---). City might over-pay (like that matters to them!) but it would be worthwhile in the long run because it would strengthen City which would equal more trophies, which would equal more prize and TV money and weaken their closest rival in the Prem. Unfortunately that didn't happen. As far as this week's game: You can be assured The Klown will conduct himself with the the same class and sportsmanship he has always exhibited in the past.

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1970 added 16:08 - Aug 15 even if they played Friday night and got back Saturday morning would still beat us so I don't know why klopp is making excuses I hope we kick there arse but can anyone see that,
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KohSamuiSaints added 16:47 - Aug 15 What a load of crap Jurgen ... Saints fans don’t give a shit that you had to play a game in Turkey staying in a 5 star hotel and a private flight home ... bring your best Liverpool ... we made a huge mistake on team selection on Saturday and I think Ralph would of learnt a lot from the Burnley match ... I think we will have a different team out all together ... not just Danso ... I’m going for the 3 points ... Maybe we should think about Carrillo instead of Inngs ...

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bstokesaint added 18:48 - Aug 15 Think Jurgen has been overdoing it with the crystal meth in his tea again. I can’t think of a team I despise more. Seriously. And to think I used to quite like them. When they had some class I mean.
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KriSaint added 05:06 - Aug 16 No doubt Lovren and Lallana will play. And Mane of course (always there, working of the shoulders of Firmino). How nice it would be if we could upset them. COYS.
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NewburySaint added 12:43 - Aug 16 Well isn’t that unusual in that somebody connected with LFC is speaking s”@*e....
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KohSamuiSaints added 14:35 - Aug 16 I don’t see why Southampton can’t be like other clubs and maybe just of taken a player on loan without the possibility of signing them permently ... Everton done it with Kurt Zouma , villa done it with Tammy Abraham ... Bournemouth with Harry Wilson , Burnley with Drinkwater ...surely we need to use this same system to get players on loan that will improve and even teach our not so good defenders how to defend better ...I can’t stress enough what a benifit we would of had if we had taken Gary Cahill .. instead he goes to a club like Crystal Palace .. I could of sold him the benifit of coming to Southampton ....Ralph you can still sigh freebies

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