In customary fashion, Jurgen Klopp is not getting carried away after the 2-0 win at West Ham on Wednesday extended Liverpool’s advantage at the top of the Premier League table to 19 points.
It would be fair to say that the FA Cup fourth round tie with Shrewsbury did not exactly go according to plan for Jurgen Klopp. He named a strong enough starting eleven to take care of business against the League One outfit, and when Curtis Jones gave the Reds the lead early on there were no further dramas anticipated on a afternoon when some key squad players – Fabinho, Joel Matip, Dejan Lovren – were able to get some much-needed game time.
Dare we say it: NOW we can begin to dream of the Premier League title. The cushion remains 16 points at the top of the table with a game in hand, and just as importantly Thursday saw another tough assignment ticked off the list.
It was noticeable in their post-match interviews that both Jurgen Klopp and Jordan Henderson refused to answer any questions regarding the destination of the Premier League title. This is a classic trademark in football, of course, which is a superstitious sport in which players, coaches and supporters refuse to make any bold proclamations in case they come back to haunt them.
The win is the thing. Sometimes when Liverpool have won a game of football this season, the performance has been a thing of beauty. And other times….well, not so much. But when all is said and done the history books only remember the champions, and it doesn’t really matter how you take care of business as long as its done.
It gets no better than this. The absolute blueprint for a FA Cup third round tie against your bitter local rivals is to make nine changes to your starting eleven, in order to rest players, and still go out and get the win. And that’s exactly what Liverpool did in the 1-0 victory over Everton on Sunday.
How’s about that for a slice of Premier League history? Following the 2-0 win over Sheffield United on Thursday, Liverpool have gone a full calendar year without tasting defeat in the English top-flight.