Klopp says Liverpool cannot afford to be complacent at Forest

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes their current status as Premier League leaders has made a “statement” but knows the situation can quickly unravel.

Their lead over Manchester City is a point and it is two over third-placed Arsenal, but Klopp says their advantage is balanced on a knife edge due to injuries ravaging his squad.

There are similarities to two years ago when Liverpool also had 60 points after 26 matches, although that was only good enough to be three points behind City, and were chasing another quadruple.

On that occasion they finished with a domestic cup double but finished runnersup in the league by a point on 92 and lost the Champions League final.

However, with 10 first-team players still currently sidelined, Klopp said the two campaigns were not comparable. “It is only one point above City and two points above Arsenal but that means nothing,“he said. “Sixty points is a statement for that moment in the season but stay on 60 and I am not sure you qualify for the Champions League to be honest so we had better continue winning football games.

“It was a much more comfortable squad situation (two years ago). As far as I remember we could make massive changes between competitions. You cannot really compare it but it showed us you can fight for everything and win something.”

Leading scorer Mohamed Salah is set to return to training next week, but Klopp will have forward Darwin Nunez and midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai available for today’s trip to Nottingham Forest after missing three and six matches.