Jurgen Klopp is "very excited" about Liverpool's performances after the Reds earned a hard-fought 1-0 win over Newcastle United.
Naby Keita's first-half goal saw Liverpool claim a vital win at St James' Park on Saturday, with the Reds maintaining their charge for the Premier League title having picked up 40 points from the last 42 available to them in the competition.
Having won the EFL Cup, reached the FA Cup final and beaten Villarreal 2-0 in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, Liverpool remain in the running for a historic quadruple going into the final weeks of the campaign.
While thrilled by Liverpool's recent displays, Klopp was not willing to discuss his side's hopes of winning four pieces of silverware as he highlighted the difficult nature of their schedule.
"I'm very excited, but not because of the prospect of winning something, because I never understood that," Klopp said at his post-match news conference.
"It's like, say we are five points ahead in the league, for example, and then you have four games to play and nearly all the time people ask you, 'now it's here... [are you] looking forward to...' No, no, no, you are just concerned about winning the next game.
"I am not smart enough to try two things at the same time. When we finished the game, our analyst was in the dressing room and I asked him how Villarreal is playing because they play now as well – they were 2-1 down, made a few changes line-up wise – so that's our life.
"We are excited. I love this football team and we go into the next [game] and try to be as good as possible, but that's it.
"It’s a good situation, but for us the number of games we still have to play is a lot; with or without the Champions League final it's a lot, so we should better win everything because otherwise it could be tricky."
Liverpool have won 42 matches in all competitions this season – only three English top-flight clubs have ever won more in a single campaign: Everton (43 in 1984-85), Manchester City (44 in 2017-18, 47 in 2020-21, 50 in 2018-19) and Manchester United (44 in 2008-09).
The Reds have also kept 21 clean sheets in this season's Premier League – more than any other side – while only in 2005-06 (22) have they recorded more shutouts in a single Premier League campaign.
Despite Klopp making five changes to his starting line-up, the Reds produced another disciplined defensive display to remain in the hunt for their 20th English top-flight title, and Klopp was keen to praise midfielder James Milner for his contribution to a professional performance.
"He was outstanding. Millie is incredibly important for us," Klopp added. "That's very important, if you talk about the dressing room, he's very helpful there.
"But on the pitch as well, he played a super game. I don't want to take anything away from him, but I liked Naby's performance as well. The boys were on fire, we played football, we kept the ball in the right moments.
"We struggled around the second-ball fights, but we knew before the game there's no way – that I know at least – to defend them 100 per cent. So, it was tricky, it's not cool to defend. But, apart from that I really loved the game. James was a massive part of it."
Liverpool travel to Villarreal on Tuesday as they look to secure a third Champions League final appearance since Klopp arrived at Anfield in 2015.
West Ham offer reward for information after burglars raided Kurt Zouma’s house
West Ham have offered a £25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of burglars who raided Kurt Zouma’s home on the eve of Sunday’s Premier League clash with Crystal Palace.
Zouma and his young family were in the house during the break-in, and he missed the following day’s match against Palace, with his club saying at the time that he was absent for “personal reasons”.
West Ham said the burglars took items of “significant value and of huge personal and sentimental importance to the family.”
Hammers joint chairman David Sullivan said: “First and foremost, the thoughts of everyone connected to West Ham United are with Kurt and his family.
“To have someone break into your home is a terrifying experience and I hope this reward will help bring the individuals to justice and prevent others from going through a similar ordeal.”
Last year Zouma was ordered to carry out 180 hours’ community service and banned from keeping cats for five years after kicking and slapping his pet in a disturbing home video posted on Snapchat.
Skelmersdale appeal after boss Pascal Chimbonda lands five-match stadium ban
Skelmersdale United manager Pascal Chimbonda has been given a five-match stadium ban for improper conduct, his club have confirmed.
The 44-year-old former Tottenham, Sunderland, Wigan and Blackburn player, who was also a member of France’s World Cup squad in 2006, took the reins at the North West Counties Premier League side in October.
His club have appealed against the severity of the punishment, which follows an incident which saw him sent off when Skelmersdale faced Barnoldswick Town on October 21.
A thread posted on the club’s official account on X (formerly Twitter) read: “Pascal Chimbonda has been served with a five match stadium ban for Improper Conduct which will take effect immediately. This is in relation to his sending off on the 21st October 2023 during the game against Barnoldswick Town.
“Pascal would like to state that although he pleaded guilty to the offence of leaving his technical area, he did so with the sole intention of preventing his players from getting hurt in a melee which had developed on the field of play.
“The club have appealed against the severity of the punishment as it doesn’t appear to be proportionate with the offence. Particular as his previous disciplinary record is totally unblemished. The club won’t be releasing any further statements until the outcome of the appeal.”
Chimbonda also played for QPR, Carlisle and Doncaster, before playing for non-league Washington (Tyne and Wear) and Ashton Town.
Alexis Mac Allister delight after opening Reds account with ‘best goal of life’
Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister admits it was nice to be momentarily freed from the restrictions of his defensive role to score the “best goal of my life”.
The Argentina international’s superb 30-yard rising drive into the top corner in Sunday’s dramatic 4-3 win over Fulham was his first for the club since signing from Brighton in the summer.
His attacking qualities have been largely nullified following his arrival as necessity has meant he has been asked to play a deeper role in midfield than he is used to, but his flash of brilliance showed he has not lost any of his instincts in the final third.
“Not a bad start to my career there in Liverpool as a goalscorer,” he said.
“I had a nice one against Leicester (for Brighton) but it was disallowed so I think it was the best goal I scored in my life.
“As soon as I hit it, I knew that it was going to be a goal. When I play as a number six I am not very worried about goals and assists (because) I have other work to do – but it’s always nice to score.”
Mac Allister’s goal would have been a worthy match-winner but some haphazard defending allowed Fulham to equalise twice before taking the lead with 10 minutes to go.
That set up a grandstand finish with Wataru Endo and Trent Alexander-Arnold scoring within a couple of minutes of each other to snatch victory and extend their perfect Anfield winning record to 11 matches this season.
Captain Virgil van Dijk accepted there was a degree of sloppiness in Liverpool’s game but said at the start of a busy December it was important just to secure the points and move on to the next game, which comes at Sheffield United on Wednesday.
“I think we were a bit too sloppy in possession in the transitions but I am not that kind of guy that wants to look too much to the negative side,” said the Netherlands defender.
“If we win these types of games the way we do now is not a bad thing so we have to take the positives out of it, especially during this busy period that starts now.”
Alexander-Arnold was pivotal to the victory as it was his impressive free-kick, which went in via the underside of the crossbar and the back of goalkeeper Bernd Leno, which kicked things off early in the game.
When Mac Allister was withdrawn with 25 minutes to go it was the right-back who stepped into central midfield to continue to dictate matters with his passing and Van Dijk has been impressed with how his vice-captain has operated mainly in a hybrid role for the last nine month.
“Well obviously when he has the ball at his feet and he is free he can put the ball wherever he wants and that is a big quality,” added the Dutchman.
“We all know that and opponents know it as well. They tried to put him a bit more under pressure but obviously for him to (contribute to) two goals and be important on the offensive side is good and it is something we’re going to need, so let’s keep it going.”
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