Klopp confident Liverpool will avoid any repeat of January slumps

Jurgen Klopp has become accustomed to a dry January during his time in England. It is an unwelcome habit he must shake off to preserve Liverpool’s Premier League lead.

Since moving to Anfield, Klopp’s win percentage in the month after the new year fireworks fall silent is lower than at any other stage of a season, a meagre 30.77 per cent.

Across all competitions since 2016, Liverpool have lost 11 of 26 January fixtures under Klopp’s stewardship. Whatever the cause of this January difficulty, Liverpool can ill afford it to continue when they travel to Brighton today seeking to extend the four-point gap over Manchester City.

Klopp was not aware of the statistical quirk, suggesting it may have more to do with the quality of opposition in successive Januarys than a recurring mid-season dip.

“If the numbers say it, I don’t know, but I don’t see a specific reason for that,” he said. “So far, we’ve lost one Premier League game in January [this season] and that was Manchester City away. That’s not a sign of a bad record in January. It’s just a sign of a really difficult game.

“I’ve never felt bad in January,” he added. “It’s just that December is a tough month to go through for all of us.

“We have to build on that basis physically and thank God most of the boys can do that because they have stayed healthy. Let’s build on that.”