Klopp thrilled as Liverpool top league
Jurgen Klopp admitted Liverpool’s flying start has surprised him as they won their sixth successive Premier League game to return to the top of the table.
The comfortable 3-0 victory over Southampton at Anfield was wrapped up by half-time on Saturday courtesy of an own goal from Wesley Hoedt, Joel Matip’s header and Mohamed Salah’s simple finish.
The victory marked Liverpool’s best start to a season since they won eight league games in a row in 1990-91.
Klopp’s men have now won seven successive matches in all competitions this term.
Southampton manager Mark Hughes, now without a league win in 12 visits to Anfield with six different teams, admitted the second half was “damage limitation” for the Saints.
And Klopp was happy to welcome another milestone on his team’s journey.
“It’s a surprise, but all the performances we showed so far were good enough to win the games,” he said.
“Different challenges, different styles of opponent, the boys were there, really in the situation and in the game.”
Klopp offered good news on the only possible downsides on the day for Liverpool, the half time removal of Xherdan Shaqiri and the second half substitution of Virgil van Dijk, who left the pitch clutching his ribs.
Klopp revealed Shaqiri’s early substitution in his first Liverpool start was tactical despite his involvement in the build up to the first goal – his shot hit Shane Long before going in off Hoedt – and his 25 yard freekick against the bar which led to Salah’s tap-in for the third.
“I said to Shaq at half time that I’d never taken a player off at half-time after such an influential half,” Klopp said.
“He was not injured, but I wanted to control the game, go back to our normal formation, and that helped us.”
Van Dijk, said Klopp, aggravated bruised ribs which he carried into the PSG game in midweek.
Klopp’s 600th competitive game as a manager saw Liverpool extend an impressive home league record, unbeaten now in 18 games and 17 months at Anfield.
The victory ended a positive week for Liverpool with a third win after victory against top four rivals Spurs at Wembley last weekend and the late victory against Paris St Germain in the Champions League. –
I said to Shaq at half-time that I’d never taken a player off at halftime after such an influential half