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Liverpool's Klopp says rival fans will continue to target breakaway clubs

Premier League - Leeds United v Liverpool

(Reuters) - Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp expects the abuse from rival supporters over their involvement in the failed European Super League competition to continue when crowds return to stadiums in future.

Klopp said neither he nor his players knew about plans for the Super League - of which Liverpool were one of six Premier League clubs to sign up for before withdrawing. The proposal collapsed earlier in the week amid widespread criticism.

The proposed Super League would have guaranteed hundreds of millions of dollars a year in income to teams involved. But fans and other clubs said it would throw domestic leagues out of competitive balance and damage the sport.

Before Liverpool's 1-1 Premier League draw against Leeds United at Elland Road on Monday, a plane flew overhead trailing a banner saying "say no to superleague" while the Merseyside team's coach was greeted with fans venting their anger.

"Of course, fans are like this. It's not about fair play... I'm pretty sure supporters of Leeds who were showing up at the stadium, running after us knew we (players and coaching staff) weren't involved but they didn't care," Klopp told reporters.

"Yes, it'll be even worse when people are back in stadiums. It started already in Leeds. The Leeds supporters wanted to show us, as a team, they were shouting at us that we were greedy. What? What are you talking about?

"But that's exactly the situation we all create. They need to find somebody they can put their attention on...in this case it was us. It wasn't deserved but...Liverpool is much more than this and that's what I want to make sure of."

Liverpool host Newcastle United later on Saturday.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru)