Jurgen Klopp the visit of Tottenham Hotspur will be like a cup final for the north London side, who can put pressure on Leicester City at the top of the Barclays Premier League with a victory at Anfield.
Spurs are five points adrift of the leaders Leicester, who are in action on Sunday at home to Southampton.
Klopp has stressed the importance of Saturday's match occasion for both teams, and hopes Liverpool can meet the challenge of the “hard fight”.
"Now everyone knows how strong Tottenham are and it's an important game for both sides,” the Liverpool manager said. “Liverpool v Tottenham is never a birthday party. It will be a hard fight.
"We're looking forward to a really, really important game for both sides, and maybe for Tottenham it's something like a final.
"They need to win to put pressure on Leicester. We need to think about it in the sense that it's like a cup final, so we have to be ready.”
Klopp’s first match at Liverpool was a goalless draw in the reverse fixture at White Hart Lane six months ago, and Spurs head coach Mauricio Pochettino is wary of the quality the German and his team possess.
"Liverpool have a very good team, very good players and Klopp is a great manager,” Pochettino told tottenhamhotspur.com. “We expect a very tough game.
"It’s a battle. We need to fight, we need to show we are better and fight for a big objective. First of all, we need to perform and show we deserve to win."
Pochettino is likely to be without Jan Vertonghen (knee) and Erik Lamela (muscle) at Anfield, although Toby Alderweireld is expected to be fit after a stomach problem.
For Liverpool, Saturday's match has come too soon for Lucas Leiva, who is recovering from a thigh injury. Roberto Firmino will have a hamstring tested to see if he is fit after missing the defeat at Southampton. Christian Benteke and Divock Origi both suffered knocks on duty for Belgium, but while the former will not feature, the latter has recovered.
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