The Club World Cup has returned once again this December in Doha, with Qatar replacing the United Arab Emirates as the host nation. The European champions face Flamengo of Brazil in Saturday’s final having overcome the Concacaf champions, Monterrey, in a semi-final.
The FIFA Club World Cup feels ‘really special’ to Jürgen Klopp and The Reds are looking to win the trophy for the first time in the club’s history, having secured a spot in the showpiece with a 2-1 victory over Monterrey in a last-four tie on Wednesday.
Jurgen Klopp is unsure whether star defender Virgil van Dijk (the Dutch centre-back was forced to miss the semi-final) will recover from illness in time to feature for Liverpool in the Club World Cup final against Flamengo.
Meanwhile, Klopp says he will spend the next couple of days studying closely the play of South American champions Flamengo – who defeated Al-Hilal 3-1 in their semi-final – to try and perfect a gameplan for the showdown in Doha.
He added on his club’s official website: “(I expect a) tough game, a really tough game, but we watched their match, yes, I saw a lot and we will watch more games.
“We have to watch two or three games and that’s what we will do. Then we will know what our conclusion will be. At the end we try to make ourselves ready for a really tough game.”
Liverpool can be backed at 2/9 to win the Club World Cup final, with Flamengo priced at 3/1, while the Reds are 10/1 to prevail after extra-time.
View all soccer betting odds on bet365.com
FIFA Club World Cup roll of honour:
Real Madrid 4 (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018)
Barcelona 3 (2009, 2011, 2015)
Corinthians 2 (2000, 2012)
AC Milan 1 (2007)
Bayern München 1 (2013)
Internacional 1 (2006)
Internazionale Milano 1 (2010)
Manchester United 1 (2008)
São Paulo 1 (2005)