Top-four race not over yet, says Klopp
watford — Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp told his players to gird their loins for the Premier League run-in after they retained control of their top-four destiny with victory at Watford.
Emre Can’s stupendous midair scissors kick earned Liverpool a 1-0 win at Vicarage Road on Monday that provisionally gave them a three-point cushion over Manchester City in third place.
Victory in Liverpool’s last three games — against Southampton, West Ham United and Middlesbrough — will guarantee them a Champions League berth, but Klopp said there was still much work to be done.
“We need to stay focused, we need to stay concentrated,” said the German.
“We have pressure until the end of the season, but that’s a positive pressure. It means we are fighting for something.
“So we’ll do everything for the points we can get, but it won’t be easy. If people think we already have the three points against Southampton then they’ve not seen them play this season. Another really strong side.
“Nobody can take these points away from us tonight and now we have time to work and prepare for the Southampton game (on Sunday).”
Meanwhile, Watford manager Walter Mazzarri, whose side remain 13th in the table, said the final score was not an accurate reflection of the game.
“If you look at all Liverpool’s games, they usually create five or six clear chances,” said the Italian.
“Today we hardly conceded any chances and we also had a couple of chances, so overall it was a good performance.
“I usually don’t like to speak about luck, but today we were completely unlucky.” —