Paul Clement ahead of Liverpool clash: This is what Swansea must do to avoid relegation

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Paul Clement has ordered his Swansea players to become fitter if they are to avoid relegation

Clement brings his struggling Swansea to Anfield today in search of a shock win and the former Bayern Munich assistant reckons Liverpool's high-pressing game is the blueprint to follow.

"It would be easy for me to take a cheap shot at previous regimes and training methods but I'm clear about the way I want to train these players and the way I want them to play," said Clement.

"In order to play the way I want them to play, they're going to have to get fitter. That's what I want, not what's happened before.

"Liverpool set the standards but it is worth remembering they had to go through a few problems to get to that point. They had a few injuries initially, and now they are the outstanding team in terms of physical output in the entire league."

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New Swansea signing Luciano Narsingh is a major doubt for the Liverpool clash due to a calf injury

Swansea have conceded 49 goals this season and will have to find a way to stop the Premier League's top scorers.

Reds striker Daniel Sturridge is someone who Clement knows well after coaching him at Chelsea. And despite question marks over the England international's Anfield future, Clement believes he is as good as any striker in the world when fully fit.

"Physically he can do what Jurgen Klopp wants from his strikers, he has the physical attributes," the 45-year-old added. "But there is a lot of selfless work and mental strength involved in that style of high-intensity pressing game.

"If he can stay injury free and get a consistent run in the team then he is as good as any striker there is."

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Steven Gerrard has returned to Liverpool as a youth team coach

New Swansea winger Luciano Narsingh is a major doubt for the game with a calf injury.

Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard is to return to his boyhood club as a youth team coach.

The former Liverpool captain, who is set to start work with Anfield's next generation at the academy at Kirkby next month, last night described the move as "completing the circle".

Yet he insisted that it was a move dictated by his head not his heart and that it was "the right move at the right time".

Liverpool train ahead of Swansea clash
Fri, January 20, 2017

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Nathaniel Clyne snapped in Liverpool training after missing last week's clash with Manchester United

"I don't need to explain to people what this football club means to me and this feels like completing the circle, returning to the place where it all began," said Gerrard.

"But when I knew coming back was a serious option I wanted to make sure it was a substantive role and a role in which I could really help the organisation.

"And after meeting with [academy boss] Alex Inglethorpe, seeing the work they are currently doing and want to do in the future at Kirkby, it just felt right.

"It is the right option at the right time, for all parties involved."

Gerrard, 36, had a 17-year professional career with the Reds, having joined Liverpool while still at primary school, and is considered one of their greatest players and he is about to rekindle his love affair after an 18-month spell in Major League Soccer with the Los Angeles Galaxy.

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