Halfway

Reds must build on brilliant 2019 to clinch League title, says Klopp

Lmanager Jurgen Klopp insists the European champions must build on a “brilliant” 2019 to turn a 13-point lead at the top of the table into a first Premier League title in 30 years.

Klopp’s men were not at their flowing best and needed the help of two video assistant referee (VAR) reviews to continue their relentless march towards the title with a 1-0 win over Wolves yesterday.

Liverpool have now won 18 of their first 19 League games of the season and lost just once in the calendar year in the League, on top of winning the Champions League, Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup.

“2019 was brilliant but it’s not important because we count seasons, not years, so the 2019/20 season is not over,“said Klopp.

“We are halfway there, we still have 19 games to play and probably 18 or 19 of them will be like this tonight, for different reasons.

“Who cares about points in December? We just created a basis which we will work with from now on, that’s all.”

Wolves had lost just once in their previous 14 League games to move into contention for a top-four finish and they did not go down without a fight in the final stages.

“If it would be easy to win that number of games a lot more teams would have done it,“added Klopp.

“It is not easy and you have to fight with all you have. Sometimes we have more and sometimes less and the boys do that all the time, so I couldn’t be more proud of what they did again. To get that result over the line is just impressive.”

A comeback victory over Manchester City and the 4-0 thrashing over Besiktas in the Europa League were big highlights in December but they gave the League leaders a run for their money on Sunday despite playing their second fixture in 43 hours.

The positivity they showed throughout the game will have pleased boss Nuno Espirito Santo, who continues to work wonders with a small but talented squad.

“It was a tough game. First half Liverpool was strong. We stayed in the game, stayed organised and always the danger with the quality. In the second half we had good spells and created a lot of chances.

“We finished strongly. I am very proud of the players.” AFP/Agencies