Rampant Reds are raring to get back in action

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has no concerns about his runaway Premier League leaders picking up their relentless pace again after their mid-season break.

The German welcomed his players back on Monday for a “dream” week of training after their time off and he is confident they will hit the ground running against bottom-side Norwich at Carrow Road.

Liverpool have won 24 of 25 league matches this season, dropping only two points, and have a 22-point lead over secondplaced Manchester City.

He said: “It’s a pity we had to explain the necessity and how useful a week’s break is. It’s about using this time.

“Rest is only one word, it’s recovery, recharging, there a lot of things starting with ‘re’ that happened in that week.

“That’s why we wanted it, that’s why we fought for it, that’s why we made decisions around it. The dream of a manager is to have a full week to prepare a game, then you have an intense training session which you usually can’t have.

“The most intense session is the game in a training week when you play Saturday, Wednesday, Sunday. Now it is the other way around and we used the week to train hard.

“You don’t really lose rhythm for the games but your own rhythm for playing football – but that was done Monday when we started.

“It’s not that we don’t enjoy playing, playing, playing – but doing something else for one week in the middle of a season is just nice. Coming back you look forward to the next game like you didn’t play for the last half-year.”

The break has allowed forward Sadio Mane and midfielder James Milner to recover from hamstring injuries.