‘I had no idea’: Mark Lawrenson has a warning for Liverpool

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Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool are taking on Flamengo in the Club World Cup final – will the Anfield side become world champions?

Liverpool legend and BBC Sport pundit Mark Lawrenson has issued a word of warning for Jurgen Klopp and the Reds ahead of their Club World Cup final against Flamengo on Saturday (BBC Sport).

As Champions League winners, Liverpool qualified for the competition and could become world champions should they get the better of the Copa Libertadores holders at Doha’s Khalifa International Stadium.

Attitudes to the competition vary wildly between the two teams’ countries – in South America, the tournament is seen as a massive occasion, with Klopp noting how “Flamengo got sent here with a clear order to win it and to come back as heroes.

“We got told to stay at home and play the Carabao Cup,” Klopp added, as reported by Sky Sports News. “That is a massive difference. When Flamengo go back, and if they win, they will have a proper party – we play Leicester City. That is how it is.”

Back in 1981, Flamengo beat Liverpool 3-0 in the final of the Intercontinental Cup, the Club World Cup’s predecessor, and Lawrenson, who was part of the beaten Anfield side that day, sought to hammer home the point of just how seriously the Brazilian team is taking it.

I really do think this is a 50-50 game when I come to call it, because of what it means to Flamengo,” Lawrenson told BBC Sport. “I am not sure people in England realise how big this game is in Brazil – I only realised this week that Flamengo fans still have a song about when they beat the Liverpool side I played for in the 1981 final. I had no idea.

“Flamengo will have lots of fans there and I think it is going to be a very hard-fought contest. What might decide it is that Liverpool can go flat out for 120 minutes, and I am not sure their opponents will be able to do the same.”

Liverpool needed a last-minute goal to edge past Monterrey in their semi-final on Wednesday, whereas Flamengo came from behind to beat Al-Hilal in their clash.