Andoni Iraola has said Liverpool should be "aiming for higher performance levels" after their goalless draw with Fulham at the weekend. The Reds were held by the Cottagers at Anfield, Fulham's first point of the season, as they struggled to break down the west London side.
Six points off the pace
The result means Liverpool are already six points behind Arsenal and Manchester City and remain without a win in two Premier League games at Anfield this season. Iraola is still trying to implement his ideas, with his tenure in its early stages.
The Carabao Cup tie against Tottenham offers a chance for improvement, but it is also their fourth game in 11 days. Iraola refused to use the schedule as an excuse, insisting such a run will happen regularly given the number of competitions they are in, and wants to see progress on Saturday's stalemate.
No excuses
Writing in his programme notes, he said: "There is no point making excuses or complaining about the time that we have to recover. This kind of situation is going to happen many times this season, so we have to face it and make the best of it."
"This doesn't necessarily mean I expect us to be at our very best in every single game that we play, but we should certainly be aiming for higher performance levels than we were able to reach at the weekend and we should also be finding ways to win."
"I say this because we want to be playing in the Champions League for as long as we can this season and we also want to be in the cup competitions for as long as we can."
Changes hinted
The former Bournemouth boss has also hinted at changes, given the relentless fixture list. "We have a number of players who deserve more minutes than I have been able to give them up to this point so that will come into my thinking, particularly as we also have players who have already given a lot," he said.
Liverpool's win over Atletico Madrid in Europe last week was their best result of the season so far, coming from a goal down to beat the Spanish side. Iraola talked up the impact Anfield can have when they host Tottenham on Tuesday night.
Tottenham have underwhelmed this season, failing to score in their four league outings. Their only success came in the Carabao Cup, where they beat Charlton.
