MY ACCOUNT
Jurgen Klopp admits Liverpool rode their luck to overcome West Ham 1-0 and further intensify the pressure on Premier League leaders Manchester City.
The Reds ground out a narrow victory at Anfield on Saturday thanks to Sadio Mane’s 27th-minute strike as they moved to within three points of top spot.
Despite being without star midfielder Declan Rice and losing Jarrod Bowen to injury early in the second half, West Ham more than held their own on Merseyside.
Pablo Fornals had an effort saved off the line by Trent Alexander-Arnold, and big chances went begging for Manuel Lanzini and Michail Antonio in the final 20 minutes.
Liverpool finished with a higher expected goals (xG) return than their opponents – 2.0 compared to 1.4 – but Klopp accepts his side could easily have dropped valuable points.
“I don’t know if we will remember this game as one of the most important. It was a tricky fixture but we did really well in the first half,” he told Sky Sports.
“We know about all the different things West Ham are really good at, and in the first half we denied them in all these situations.
“We could’ve scored more, we didn’t and then the game is open. I told the boys if you are not well organised you have to defend with passion and that’s what we did.
“For their first chance Ali [Alisson] was calm, Trent cleared the situation. But this situation is a good example – people say we defend with a high line.
“But there was no pressure on the ball at all, we still had a high line and forgot completely Fornals, and that’s obviously not how you defend.
“The other situations were different. We lost the challenges and they were really there, had their big chances.
“We were lucky in these moments, but you can’t win the number of games the boys have in the last few weeks without stressing a bit of luck.”
Liverpool have now won seven top-flight games in a row, making this their best such run since stringing together 18 victories on the bounce two seasons ago.
The Reds went on to win a maiden Premier League title that campaign and are well in the hunt for another crown this time around after closing the gap on City.
City can restore their six-point lead at the summit on Sunday with victory over Manchester United, albeit having played a game more than their closest challengers.
Klopp will have one eye on events at the Etihad Stadium, where Liverpool are still to travel next month in what is shaping up to be a potential title-deciding showdown.
“Of course, we are interested in that game, but we have no influence on it,” he said.
“We have to win the games we play. Those we do not play in we have no hand in it. We don’t think about it or talk about it, we just try to win our games.”
Alexander-Arnold’s assist for Mane’s winner was his 16th of the season, setting a new benchmark for the full-back having previously registered 15 in two separate seasons.
Only Bayern Munich attacker Thomas Muller (19) has set up more goals than the right-back this season among players from clubs in Europe’s top five leagues.
Klopp hailed Alexander-Arnold’s latest match-winning contribution from the back, while also praising Mane for getting on the end of what appeared to be a shot from the defender.
“When you see him [Alexander-Arnold] playing I think we help him a little bit with positioning and stuff like this,” Klopp said.
“We try to bring him into positions, formation-wise, where he can be that influential but of course it’s all about him and his skill-set and his quality and his right foot.
“That’s it, that he is really in the situation and focused to set up goals in these moments, that he knows where the dangerous situations and positions in the opposition box are.
“It’s very helpful if you work together for a longer time because the strikers obviously expect that as well. It was a brilliant run from Sadio for the goal.
“And I don’t think it was a shot, by the way, I really think he wanted to… bring the ball in the box and then you need somebody who picks it up. It was a really good goal.”
