Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool must improve on record-breaking season so far - and hails 'fantastic' Spurs
Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool must improve on their record-breaking first half of the season to retain top Premier League billing as he predicted a multi-club fight for the 2019 title.
Despite so much attention on a possible two-horse race between Liverpool and Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur are clearly part of the equation.
Victory for Mauricio Pochettino’s side at Everton reduced the gap between Liverpool and Spurs to just six points.
Klopp rejected the idea Tottenham are back in the race – because in his view the North London club have never been out of it.
“You make these stories about who is in and who is out,” Klopp told media ahead of Liverpool’s Boxing Day meeting with Newcastle.
“I saw the game yesterday against Everton, with the goal that didn’t count and then the first goal of Tottenham was a situation that they needed. Everton played more than OK in the first few minutes, then they hit pretty much everything and it was impressive what Tottenham did.
“That can happen. To Chelsea, to Arsenal, all of them. No decision is made. Why should it be that somebody feels safe or somebody feels out of the race or whatever?
“For me they (Spurs) were never out, so why should I be surprised that they are in again?
“It’s just a fantastic football team. I said a few times that for me Tottenham had the most difficult pre-season, and not due to not signing players because if you have the right team then why should you sign players? But they had eight or nine players who played the full World Cup, and so far their season is more than impressive.
“A lot of teams are in the title race and that’s how it should be. It’s different to last year when pretty much nobody was in it any more at this time. It’s good for all supporters.”
Although Liverpool have a four point lead over second-placed City, Klopp rejected theories Pep Guardiola’s side are showing signs of weakness.
“You saw the two games they played against Chelsea and Palace? It didn’t look like they felt too much pressure,” said Klopp.
“They were outstanding in those games, but against Chelsea if you don’t finish off your situations then you can lose. City was the clear better team that day.
“And Crystal Palace did an outstanding job, scored proper stunners and obviously that can make life uncomfortable. All I see is that they were a bit unlucky in these games and that happens from time to time.”
Liverpool have enjoyed their best start to a Premier League season. They could amass an extraordinary 51 points at the halfway stage with a Boxing Day win.
But Klopp says the level must rise to fend off rivals.
“We did really well so far and we have to do even better from now on, because you can see all the other teams are doing really well,” he said.
“That’s the challenge for us, to be focused and as successful as possible. In this moment it looks quite positive, but only in this moment, we have to make sure it stays like this.”
