Liverpool do not “feel, think about or mention” the Premier League title, despite opening up a 13-point lead at the top, says manager Jurgen Klopp.
The Reds demolished second-placed Leicester 4-0 and now hold the joint-biggest advantage in Premier League history after the Boxing Day fixtures.
“It is just a game against a really good football team,” said Klopp. “It is not about deciding whatever you are thinking about before it is decided.”
Liverpool host Wolves on Sunday.
The Anfield side have come through a testing period festive period by winning the Club World Cup in Qatar, reaching the Champions League knockout stages and opening up a sizeable lead in the league.
Manchester United also held a 13-point lead at the top in the 1993-94 season and finished in that position, eight points clear of Blackburn, and Liverpool’s result moved them a step closer to clinching their first league title since 1990.
Klopp’s side have a game in hand and have dropped just two points from 18 games this season but the German, as expected, is keeping expectations down.
| Biggest Premier League leads on Boxing Day | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Points | Lead | Final position |
| 1993-94 | Manchester United | 53 | 13 | Champions |
| 2019-20 | Liverpool | 52 | 13 | ? |
| 2017-18 | Manchester City | 55 | 12 | Champions |
| 1995-96 | Newcastle | 45 | 10 | Second |
| 2005-06 | Chelsea | 49 | 9 | Champions |
“The only thing that changes is the numbers are different,” he said. “It was 10, 11 and now it is 13 points. We don’t feel it, we don’t think about it we did not mention it once before the game. it is just not interesting.
“I can write the stories by myself. Never before in the history of British football has a team had a bigger lead and lost the lead. That sounds negative in my head and we are just focused on the next games.
“We have Wolves, Sheffield United, Everton, Tottenham and Manchester United, that does not sound like anything is decided. We try with everything we have to be ready. The number are not relevant.”
Roberto Firmino scored twice, James Milner netted a penalty and Trent Alexander-Arnold fizzed home the fourth for Liverpool. Asked if his side had played better this season, Klopp replied: “We played an exceptional game against Manchester City, a super game against Arsenal and we have had a few better games.
“That was exactly the performance we needed, a little bit less good and we could have had problems. The boys were 100% in the game and that helped a lot.
“Champions League, Super Cup, Club World Cup. we want to talk about that much later in our lives and we have to win a few things then look back at how it felt.”
‘Liverpool will be hard to shift’
Liverpool have been close before, runners-up to Manchester City by just a single point last season and finished second to the same team in 2013-14 under now Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers.
The Foxes, champions in 2016 under Claudio Ranieri, are Liverpool’s nearest challengers but were swept aside at the King Power Stadium.
“They have a great cushion but that can go very quickly,” said Rodgers. “They have the power and strength and now the big thing is the confidence.
“Having won the Champions League, Club World Cup and Super Cup, they have the feeling and the squad is very strong. They will be hard to shift in the second part of the season.
“People were trying to put us in a race with Liverpool but we know where we are.
“We are at the halfway point now. We are 19 games in. It is the bigger picture with these guys. We have come a long way in this period.
“The players have been brilliant and this is another learning game for them, they see the physicality you need to compete.”
