Watford next up as Liverpool prepare to beat City’s record 18-game win streak

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp hailed the “incredible” achievement of his players after their 3-2 victory over West Ham United saw them equal most consecutive Premier League wins.

Sadio Mane’s 81st-minute winner on Monday secured a comeback win for the leaders and also tied them with Manchester City on 18 successive wins in the English top tier. Klopp’s side can make the record their own on Saturday with victory at Watford, and the German warned his charges to be ready for a ferocious reception at Vicarage Road.

“I said at the beginning we want to write our own stories, create our own history. Obviously,

the boys took that seriously and that’s all cool but just not too important at the moment,” Klopp said.

“It’s so special. The numbers are incredible, so difficult. We are just in the situation and want to recover and prepare for the next game.”

Liverpool are on 79 points, 22 clear of second-placed City, and will secure their first league title in 30 years by taking 12 points from their 11 remaining matches.

“Could I have wished for a better position to go into these last 11 games? No, I would never have thought it was possible, but each one of them is really difficult and we respect that a lot,” Klopp added.

Liverpool were in danger of dropping points for the first time since their draw at Manchester United on October 20 after falling behind to struggling West Ham in the second half at Anfield.

Georginio Wijnaldum put Liverpool ahead early on but Issa Diop equalised soon after.

Pablo Fornals put the visitors ahead before Lukasz Fabianski’s woeful blunder allowed Mohamed Salah to equalise with his 19th goal of the season. Mane completed the fightback with nine minutes left as Liverpool restored their 22-point lead over City.

The win also preserved Liverpool’s superb record without defeat. The Merseysiders are unbeaten in their last 44 league matches, just five short of Arsenal’s all-time English record of 49.