Liverpool recorded another impressive away win in the Premier League as they defeated Chelsea yesterday night to hand Antonio Conte his first taste of defeat as Chelsea manager. Whilst Jurgen Klopp was more than thrilled with his team’s victory, he refused to get too much ahead of himself.
With impressive away wins at Arsenal and now at Chelsea, many pundits have started to opine that this year under Klopp might be the year for Liverpool to claim their first Premier League title. However, the German has refused to entertain such thoughts at such an early stage of the season.
"I'm really not interested in what people say," said the Liverpool manager. "Actually, it was the same question somebody asked me here when we won 3-1, last time here against Chelsea. It was exactly [the same], someone asked me are you challenging, or whatever, for the title. My answer was 'are you crazy?' - I remember it.
"We have 10 points and that’s fantastic - really fantastic and I am really happy about it after these difficult fixtures.
"The season is not over, we have to play football – we know we can play football and we are convinced about our quality. That's all the truth but in the end. we have to prove it every week - or in this week, every three days because on Tuesday we have the EFL Cup against Derby, which will be a nice game too."
Also read: 10 greatest midfielders in football history
Daniel Sturridge had earlier been miffed about being played out wide by Jurgen Klopp and had asked for a more central role in the team. Whilst the England international who has had a career chequered by injuries featured up top in the starting line-up, he was substituted only 12 minutes into the second half by Divock Origi.
The German later clarified that the change was purely tactical and Sturridge had no injury concerns.
"I couldn't see that he could sprint anymore, so that's why we had to change. We had a healthy, young striker on the bench. That's all," added Klopp. "The first half was really good - really good - from Daniel. We need this player there in the centre who we can play with and if there's a ball behind the line sometimes so that we can go there and can push up in the last line.
"I don't think there is an injury, it is only the situation. Nobody told me about an injury, so all is good."
Liverpool have done a commendable job to eke out 10 points from a tough opening round of fixtures with the opening five games featuring trips to The Emirates, White Hart Lane and Stamford Bridge. They will now look to build on their momentum next week when they meet Derby County in the next round of the League Cup before going on to host Hull City next weekend in the Premier League.
