Jurgen Klopp admits his Liverpool players are short of confidence - just like Cristiano Ronaldo is at Manchester United and Lionel Messi was at Paris Saint-Germain last season.
The Reds manager has urged the squad to rally round and dig themselves out of their rut after a hugely-underwhelming start to the season. Liverpool are barely in the top half of the Premier League after winning just two of their opening seven games, although they do have a game in hand on some of their rivals.
The Merseysiders dropped more points on Saturday as Leandro Trossard scored a hat-trick for Brighton to earn the visitors a 3-3 draw at Anfield. Liverpool looked devoid of ideas in attack for much of the match and shaky at the back throughout it, just as they have throughout the early stages of the campaign.
Klopp spoke honestly about the mental state of his squad on Monday, one day before the Champions League clash with Rangers, by confessing their confidence has been rocked. However, the German has no doubt Liverpool can recover, citing that even greatest players go through rough patches.
"Do you think Cristiano Ronaldo at the moment is at the top of his confidence? It happens to all of us," Klopp said, referencing the out-of-favour United striker. "Lionel Messi last season, pretty much the same. You have to take a step in the right direction and when you're ready, it's [confidence is] back. In individual sports, you can fight yourself through it. In team sport, you have to do it together. It can be more complicated."
In the hope of Liverpool rekindling their confidence, Klopp is demanding "intensity" from his players and a "compact" set-up in defence. He added: "We have conceded similar goals with teams going through the same gaps.
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"The problem we have is a brave way of defending. We need intensity and if we don't do that then it's a problem. We have to be more compact. Defending is an art, and it worked for us really well for a long time. But with it not working you realise you have to go back to the basics."
Liverpool welcome Rangers to Anfield with a mixed record of one win and one loss in Champions League Group A. The Reds were thrashed 4-1 by Napoli in their opening game of the continental campaign before edging out Ajax to a 2-1 victory on Merseyside.
The Gers, meanwhile, have struggled at Europe's top table, losing their fixtures against Napoli and Ajax by a combined scoreline of 7-0. That being said, they have been in good form in the Scottish Premiership, dropping points just twice in eight fixtures to sit second behind rivals Celtic.
