We have to keep this up, says Jurgen

JURGEN KLOPP hailed his Liverpool team’s ‘best performance’ of the season and then challenged his side to prove they can win the title by maintaining such excellence.

Goals from Giorginio Wijnaldum and Roberto Firmino gave Liverpool a two-goal advantage before Erik Lamela created some late panic with an injury-time goal.

Klopp said: ‘The performance was better than the result. Winning here is difficult. You need an outstanding performance that the team delivered today. It was the best game of the season today for us, for sure. We had 85 brilliant minutes. Defending against the ball, we were brilliant.

‘Tottenham are so good and so tuned to pass through the lines, you need to be outstandingly brave and ready to close these gaps. We were also confident on the ball but we didn’t finish it off. They had the quality to strike back. But I am proud of the performance.’

Klopp, whose side are joint-top of the Premier League after five wins to begin the campaign, told his side to keep it up against Southampton next weekend.

‘We have to show it again,’ he said. ‘It was maybe our best performance against Tottenham since I have been here. If we had given five per cent less, we would have lost maybe. It made it difficult for Tottenham. Now we have to go again.’

Klopp has a worry for Tuesday’s Champions League fixture against Paris SaintGermain at Anfield. Firmino was forced off in the second half after he was hit in the eye by a stray hand from Jan Vertonghen. Klopp said: ‘It is not comfortable for him, so we will see.’