Jurgen Klopp explains what sets his side apart as Liverpool go on the cusp of Premier League title

LFC Globe
25th June 2020

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was full of praise for his side after they dispatched Crystal Palace 4-0 to edge ever closer to the title.

The Reds put in a champions-elect performance as they emphatically beat Roy Hodgson's side at on Wednesday night.

kicked off the scoring midway through the first half with a delightful free-kick from over 25 yards out. added to it before the break as he got in behind the visitors' defence and finished past Wayne Hennessey.

then replicated his Man City stunner with an even better strike after the break, before Sadio Mane rounded off an excellent counter-attack to make it 4-0.

Despite Liverpool's obvious excellence, what caught Klopp's eye was his side's desire and hunger to the ball late on in the game, claiming "that is us."

"The boys themselves love the way we play and they know that made us successful and they want to do these things," Klopp said.

"We had a lot of good games in the last couple of years, but I cannot remember a 4-0 after 80 minutes or so when, if a player from the other team wins the ball, there are four players chasing like it is the only ball.

"I really like that and that is us. That is us; there are different ways to play football, but this is us. You want to have the ball, you can have it, but we want to have it back. And when we have the ball, we do some good stuff with it. That is us.

Virgil van Dijk and Jurgen Klopp - Liverpool vs Crystal Palace

Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images

"I don't want to be too positive about it, but I don't find any negatives in this game, to be honest. If I would now try to search negatives, I can't remember [any].

"Yes, we missed chances, but that's football. We could have scored more, yes, but that's football. The way we played tonight was really exceptional."

Liverpool's long 30-year wait for the league title could come to an end as early as Thursday, should drop points to .

But if Pep Guardiola's side win, the Reds would then have the chance to clinch the title against City in a week's time.

"I watch the game tomorrow night, not to prepare a celebration – I watch the game because we play against City a week later," Klopp said when asked whether he would tune in to the fixture.

"So I have to watch it, especially against Chelsea, who we play as well. This game is a really important game to watch for plenty of reasons. Whatever happens tomorrow night, we have no influence on it, so I'm not too interested, to be honest.

"But I am pretty sure anyway that the game next week against Man City is a must-watch for each football fan on this planet because whatever will be decided or not, two really, really good teams face each other and that will be pretty interesting, to be honest."

The Reds' dominance was so palpable that they restricted Palace from having even a single touch inside the opposition box, a first since Premier League records began for this statistic in 2008-09.

"You shouldn't underestimate how much this team wants it. You should not. This team really wants it; they want to fulfil the wishes of the people at ," Klopp said.

Liverpool 4-0 Crystal Palace

Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images

"We all have a common dream, but we have to work for it and we have to work our way for it. We cannot play like other teams, but we can play pretty good stuff – and that's what the boys did tonight.

"When we spoke after the game, it was a but usually with a clean sheet Ali is massively involved – in this clean sheet, his involvement was not too big. He deserves it anyway.

"The game was exceptional. Talking football, from so many points of view it was exceptional. It is so difficult against a 4-5-1, [but] how we pushed them back and found spaces.

"There were so, so many good things even when we didn't score, especially when the kids came on when we made the subs, how they were involved immediately... and could have scored as well, crazy!

"This game will last a while in my mind, this is for us what we want to be and what we have to show against each and everybody."

Klopp admits there's only one way tonight could have been improved upon: with supporters in the stands.

"How I said, this night could have been better with people in the stadium, with my family in the stadium, that would've been really nice because it was an important game, it was an important step for us, 100 per cent," Klopp added.

"It was a sensational football game and I really would have wished for all people that are usually here that they could have been here, but they couldn't and so we made their night anyway if you want.

"So they watched the game at home and I hope I see one time how the people reacted when we scored the goals. That would be really nice because that's why we are doing it and no other reason."

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