Jurgen Klopp expressed his delight as Liverpool won a close contest against Manchester City 1-0 on Saturday to keep pace with league leaders Chelsea.
Liverpool and Manchester City came into Saturday evening’s encounter at Anfield fully aware that anything other than a win would see them lose ground in the race to win the Premier League title after runaway leaders Chelsea beat Stoke City 4-2 earlier in the day to increase the gap on their rivals.
The match looked set to be a goal fest in its early stages as Georginio Wijnaldum’s fine header from Adam Lallana’s pinpoint cross put the Reds ahead in the eighth minute. However, what followed was more of a scrappy affair as fatigue started to set in, resulting in a midfield battle with chances few and far between.
As Liverpool managed to beat their fellow title contenders 1-0 in a hard fought victory, Jurgen Klopp was visibly excited as his side managed to maintain the six-point gap on Chelsea despite the Blues’ record breaking 13-match winning streak.
Klopp said in his post-match press conference that he was happy to see his side frustrate Antonio Conte’s Blues with a fourth consecutive win: “They are obviously unbelievably strong of course. They are in an outstanding run. They are in a 13-game run — not bad.
“But can you imagine how annoying it is when you win 13 games in a row and [we] are only six points behind? It is unbelievably difficult in this league but we cannot have a look at Chelsea, they are unbelievably strong and they are on an outstanding run.”
Klopp was also prodded on the possibility of Liverpool embarking on a run similar to that of Chelsea’s, having won four on the bounce, but the German boss maintained that his team is focussed on taking it one game at a time instead of looking too far ahead of themselves.
Klopp added: “You need to win 14! Nobody really thinks we can do it. It will be difficult enough to win at Sunderland. I know what we have to do to win the next game but not to get Chelsea. We got the three points. I really thought we deserved it and that is the only thing which is really important.”
Liverpool’s win kept them within touching distance of Chelsea, six points behind Conte’s side. And, with Chelsea preparing for a tricky visit to White Hart Lane in three days’ time, they can have the chance to close the gap on the Blues and frustrate them further.
