Liverpool's Lucas Leiva has hailed the impact of current manager Jürgen Klopp on the team as a whole and claimed that the spirit within the current crop is the best he has ever seen in his time at the club.

Klopp's side sit second in the Premier League behind league leaders Chelsea and face Jose Mourinho's Manchester United at Old Trafford in a much-awaited clash on Sunday.

Before that, the Reds will first meet with Claude Puel's Southampton in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final, as they hope to edge closer to lifting some silverware this season.

Sense of unity is fuelling the Reds says Lucas

The Brazilian has been at the club for a while now and has been part of two squads that came ever so close to clinching the Premier League title, once in 2008/09 under Rafa Benitez and the second time under Brendan Rodgers in 2013/14.

This time Lucas believes there is something more in the team, a sense of unity amongst the players and a camaraderie that wasn't the case in the past, which is helping the Reds go further into the season and giving them the encouragement for their title challenge.

Lucas spoke about the team and said: "I think in terms of spirit it is probably the best since I’ve been here." He continued in saying that the club has a "very good" group of players and that there's nobody who's trying to be the "main man" of the team, he believes that the team's success this season is down to "team work" and expressed that he is very happy to "work with all of them".

Liverpool have been unbeaten since their shocking loss to AFC Bournemouth in early December and Lucas thinks that is "working really well" for the team at the moment and hopes that the team can carry on their good work and make the end of the season "a positive one".

Learning new position helps me for the future, says Lucas

Lucas captained the Reds against Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup encounter of the two clubs that ended 0-0 and the Brazil international hopes he can retain his place in the team for the semi-final match in the League Cup against the Saints.

Klopp has enough quality in depth in midfield and so Lucas has been forced to play at centre-back for the team for much of this season, where he has produced some excellent performances.

Lucas has highlighted the team's desire to do well in the EFL Cup and said:"hopefully I can play as I played in all the rounds until now. It is a competition we want to do well in as we came very close last year." He added: "Hopefully we can have two good games in the semi-final against a very difficult team and get to the final."

He has spoken about his role at the club and said that he has had to "adapt" to playing a different position at centre-back and has acknowledged that he has played there "many times" and said that "every game you feel more comfortable but there are things you have to learn."

He conceded the fact that although he is a midfielder by trade, learning a "new position" will only help him in playing more games and also help him "for the future."

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About the author
Ninad Barbadikar
Editor for the Brighton and Hove Albion Office. Contributor to VAVEL UK since July 2016.