Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has emphasised the importance of his defence.

Without the injuries they experienced last season, the Reds backline has conceded just 20 goals in 30 Premier League matches.

Klopp's side face Benfica in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday, and Klopp says his defenders are the 'basis for all the things we do'.

"It's the mother, if you want, of all the things we do," Klopp said of his defence.

"That's what I'm asking for constantly, that will never stop, because it gives you stability, it gives you [the] opportunity to win games 1-0, which is important, because you cannot always score plenty of goals because of the quality of the other opponents.

"So that's how it all starts [and] that's how it all ends. It's absolutely the basis for all the things we do."