The versatile Moroccan, who has been playing in defence following the injury to regular centre-back Willy Boly in October, scored his third goal of the season to help Wolves beat Norwich City in their previous Premier League match on the road last weekend, said his team-mates are focused on their own game as they head to the north west.
On facing Liverpool at Anfield
“It’s very good to face this fantastic team. They are fighting for the title and are looking really good this season.
“You can see they are really strong with how many points they are already ahead at the top of the league. Last season, City were eight points behind them, but they were able to come back and get the title.
“You never know what might happen with the title – sometimes this league is crazy, but we are focused on our targets, our game and our league because we’re not fighting for the title. We’re just focused on this game and our opponent.
“We want to get some points, if it’s against Liverpool or City, it doesn’t matter. We want points. We’re just going to try and do our best against Liverpool. Even though it’s Liverpool away, we know it’s going to be really hard, but when you start the game, it’s to win.”
On Liverpool’s attacking threat
“They’ve been good for two or three years now, they’ve scored a lot of goals and can play the whole 90 minutes with high intensity.
“They go game after game, playing the full 90 minutes, but I just hope they’re going to have a bad day against us!”
On a hectic Christmas schedule
“I didn’t really get any time off. It was my fourth year here, so I know that during Christmas it’s really tough, busy and a part of football in England.
“It’s good to play football and have a lot of matches, but sometimes we want some rest.
“Christmas games always bring a good atmosphere for the fans, for the players on the pitch because we can see the atmosphere around the stadium before the game and during the game.
“It’s good when you are playing, even though sometimes you hope for more rest! We are lucky to have our families with us so we can spend time with them for Christmas, but we still have to be ready for the games.”
On Wolves’ performances this season
“It’s down to the mentality of the team – the players and the staff. We take it game by game because we know it can be totally different between playing a team in the league to playing a team in the Europa League.
“Most of the players here now have been here for three or four years, so it’s really easy on the pitch. There are now autonomies between us.
“We started something with the coach when he came, we’ve been doing it year after year, and now we are trying to stay as high as we can because we made a good season last season, and this season we’re going to try to do the same or even better – that’s the objective.
“At the moment, we are doing well in the league, all the teams are really close in terms of points and it’s going to be really tough, all the way until the end.”
