Alisson Becker on clean sheets, Firmino influence and the title race
"We need to keep pushing," is the message from Alisson Becker as the goalkeeper explained why Liverpool's players are not paying attention to the staggering numbers behind their Premier League form.
Saturday’s 1-0 victory at Tottenham Hotspur was the Reds’ 20th from 21 league fixtures this term and set a new record points total for Europe’s top five divisions at this stage of a campaign.
The clean sheet in London, meanwhile, was their sixth in a row in the top flight, as the result further strengthened their advantage in the race for the title.
After the game, Alisson spoke to Liverpoolfc.com about all of the above, the form of match-winner Roberto Firmino and how the Reds will now prepare for the visit of Manchester United...
On the importance of the win…
It was [big]. The feeling is amazing to win here. It was a tough game – it always is a tough game to play away against Tottenham – and I think we did really well on the pitch. We could do better certainly in some moments but I think when we needed to defend, we defended well with everybody involved in the situation. When we had opportunities to attack, Bobby scored, we had some good chances and their goalkeeper did a good job. I think it was sufficient to get the three points and we are happy for that.
On how they expected Tottenham to approach the game…
Sometimes it’s difficult to know what you expect from the opponent. You only need to be ready for every situation. The boss prepared us in the week during the training sessions for every situation so we are ready for the way that Tottenham play, and I think that’s why we did so well on the pitch.
On Firmino’s recent form and his influence on this team…
Bobby is one of the most important players in our team – and we have a lot. I think everybody is important but Bobby not only scores when we need him, he makes the team play, he drops to play from behind. This is a good thing and it is something that he likes to do, he likes to help, and I’m really happy that he scored because a striker needs to score to stay confident and he is helping us with the goals.
On another clean sheet and a record points tally of 61 from 21 matches…
We don’t think too much about breaking records but it’s good when you break them. We just want to keep going, to keep playing, to keep doing our best to make the fans happy, to make our family proud, to make the boss proud because we work a lot every day to come here on the pitch on a matchday and win the game. So, we do everything that is in our hands to make it happen and we are really happy with the three points and a clean sheet also.
On the race for the Premier League title…
As I said before, we don’t look to records, we don’t look to the points. We try just to stay focused on the next game and do our best on the pitch. We celebrate this victory then we have some days off to rest and have time with family. But when we are back in training, we need to be really focused on the next game, which is an important game for us in the continuity of the race for the title. We are doing really well so far, as the boss always says, we are being the best so far and we need only to keep going, keep pushing and do our best.