Liverpool fans can be forgiven for launching into a premature title celebration but the players can’t join in the party just yet, manager Jurgen Klopp warned last night.
Supporters sang ‘We’re going to win the league’ at Anfield during yesterday’s win over Manchester United and they won’t find much argument from the rest of the Premier League after opening up a 16-point gap at the top of the table with a game in hand.
‘They can sing that, l have no problem with it,’ said Klopp.
‘I am not here to dictate what they sing. If our fans were not in a good mood now, that would be really strange.
‘Of course they are allowed to dream, to sing whatever they want as long as they are ready to do their job as well, at the moment when we play. All fine. Everyone should celebrate the situation, apart from us.
‘Nothing has changed. We have the same situation plus three points. I will tell you immediately the moment if it feels different, but at the moment it doesn’t.
‘We will not be part of that party yet but it’s no problem. We know our job.
‘I have no idea whether we will be caught or not — I don’t care. First and foremost, it’s the Premier League. We play Wolves on Thursday, it’s our next exceptional challenge.
‘I don’t have enough space in my brain to contemplate anything else.
‘I have to keep myself concentrated, even in the interviews, because I know we have to play Thursday. That’s the truth. I’m only interested in that game and nothing else.’
Liverpool’s win took them further clear of Manchester City and Leicester and opened up a huge 30-point gap over old rivals United. Klopp’s side have lost only one of their last 61 league games.
They could have won more convincingly here but Roberto Firmino and Georginio Wijnaldum had goals disallowed and David de Gea touched Jordan Henderson’s shot against a post before Mo Salah raced away to seal the 2-0 victory in stoppage time.
‘I would have preferred we were two, three or 4-0 up after 60 minutes, it’s good for nerves,’ added Klopp.
‘We played sensational football. We could and maybe should have scored more.
‘United wanted to annoy us, distract our game, defend and counter-attack. But we scored the second goal and that was a big relief.’