Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp reflects on victory over West Ham
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is refusing to get carried away in the title race, despite his side opening up a 19-point lead at the top of the Premier League. The Reds defeated West Ham 2-0 on Wednesday night.
Goals from Mohamed Salah and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain secure the three points for the Premier League leaders.
The win was Liverpool’s 23rd of the season, and saw them break a record of having beaten every team in a single season.
Despite being 19 points clear of second-placed Manchester City, Klopp refused to get carried away by the chants of ‘We’re going to win the league’ coming from the away end at the London Stadium.
Speaking after the game, he dismissed the early coronation of his team, insisting there is still a long way to go before the title is secure.
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But Klopp again was dismissive of any other targets this season, setting his sights solely on the Premier League crown.
“Last year we had 97 points and I am not sure if we could have had 100 – 98 would have been possible if we had got a point at [Manchester] City,” he continued.
“No, I didn’t do it so far [didn’t set any other targets] and in the moment I see I have a problem with motivating the boys, then I would have to use different things – but so far it is not necessary.
“We are Liverpool and we have a proper history, everybody knows what we have to do and the motivation is to reach that and not any point records.
Liverpool beat West Ham 2-0 on Wednesday night (Image: GETTY)
“If that would happen as a side-effect, we would take it, but we are not overly concerned about it.
“Look, a record is a record until somebody breaks that record.
“When I became champion with Dortmund, we had 81 points which was the all-time record in Germany. One year later Bayern had 98! It’s not something I am really too much concerned about, that’s the truth.
“Game statistics are important and today, all the stats we had today are positive but strange as well because had five shots on target and West Ham had four, so that with 70-something per cent possession makes no sense.”