Jürgen Klopp: We don't think about the title in the moment
Jürgen Klopp insists Liverpool never look beyond the next game when it comes to competing for the Premier League title.
The Reds carry a four-point lead at the summit into the latest round of top-flight fixtures – which sees the champions host West Bromwich Albion on Sunday – having chalked up a 7-0 victory at Crystal Palace on their previous outing.
Klopp’s men have, of course, been involved in title races in each of the past two campaigns, following up their second-place finish in 2018-19 by topping the division with 99 points last season.
The manager was asked during his media previews for the clash with West Brom if those experiences could give Liverpool an advantage in the battle for the title this time around.
“Honestly, we don’t think about challenging [for] the title in the moment; honestly, not at all,” Klopp replied.
“I know it’s kind of boring but it’s the truth because we don’t understand it in a different way. We just try to make sure we are as competitive as possible in the next game.
“So, you win a game, which is great – the best feeling you can get. Then usually you play a few days later again. This time we didn’t have that, that’s true. The first time. Now we try to use that really to prepare for the next few games, probably not for the rest of the season but for the next few games.
“I don’t know anything about advantage or disadvantage in this situation and these kinds of things. If you are a complete surprise and are in April at the top of the league, everybody would say, ‘OK, with a little bit more experience now you could do it until the end.’ Even then it’s the end of April or March, so we are not that far now.
“If we are in March or April still in this position, we can maybe talk differently. But if we are then only two or three points ahead, it makes no sense anyway.
“The only advantage you can get is the advantage on the pitch in the specific game. Nothing else. Being successful in the past can have different kinds of influence – have you had enough? Do you want more? These kinds of things.
“My boys for sure didn’t have enough yet and want, for sure, more but that doesn’t make it more likely. It just means we created so far a basis and we have to create much more of it to use it in the end. And so far, nothing really happened in this league.”