Nobody gets rid of us, says Klopp

JURGEN KLOPP hailed Liverpool’s destruction of Burnley and insisted it was a performance that showed they will be in the title race for the distance. Liverpool came from behind to win 4-2, with two goals apiece from Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane. Senegal international Mane scored for the sixth consecutive game at Anfield and he now has 50 goals for the club. The victory means Liverpool remain a point behind Manchester City and, with Pep Guardiola’s side playing in the FA Cup next weekend, Klopp’s side will go into the international break setting the pace if they beat Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday. It was a much-needed show of their attacking prowess following the frustration of 0-0 draws at Old Trafford and Goodison Park but Klopp scoffed at the idea those results had affected belief and insisted his team are in the perfect place to strike. ‘We have only to make sure that we stay in the really interesting competition on top of the table,’ said Klopp. ‘The message is that nobody gets rid of us, if we play as we play here. We had the perfect mixture of fighting the opponent, fighting the circumstances and playing football. ‘That was really good and I liked it. We scored five goals two weeks ago against Watford and then we didn’t score against Everton and everyone asks me about more offensive line-ups! Next time we don’t score, I think you will ask me again. ‘We have no problem with confidence. We didn’t have a problem after the Everton game. You make a big fuss if we score five, then we are the best attacking side in the world, and we score nil and then we have an offensive problem.’ Klopp was unhappy about both goals Burnley scored — particularly the opener that saw James Tarkowski appear to hold goalkeeper Alisson Becker — and he remonstrated with the officials regularly. ‘The early goal we conceded, usually it would have been disallowed,’ said Klopp. ‘I saw the first moment it is a foul, and then I saw the pictures, you cannot treat the goalie like this. If Andre Marriner had a better view, he probably would have whistled it, I think.’ Burnley manager Sean Dyche bemoaned individual errors that he claimed gifted Liverpool three goals and felt his side’s opener was ‘a tough call’. He said: ‘These are tough places to come and you can’t make mistakes here. I was actually pleased with some of the performance. We kept asking questions.’