Harry Diamond
Jurgen Klopp insists ‘the result is the most important thing’ after seeing his Liverpool side extend their lead at the top of the Premier League with a narrow 1-0 victory at Tottenham.
Roberto Firmino scored the only goal of the game as Liverpool continued their unbeaten start to the season, which, coupled with Leicester’s shock defeat to Southampton, extended the Reds’ advantage at the summit to a seemingly insurmountable 16 points.
Despite dominating the majority of the contest, Klopp’s side struggled to make the most of their superiority and were almost made to pay as they tired in the latter stages, Son Heung-Min and Giovani Lo Celso wasting glorious opportunities to equalise for Spurs.
Following the clash, the Liverpool boss admitted he was pleased to see his side hang on and secure three points, the club’s sixth successive clean sheet providing the platform for a 12th consecutive league victory.
“First and foremost the result is the most important thing,” Klopp told Sky Sports. “One team deserved to win and that was us. To win at Tottenham is pretty special. That the game wasn’t decided after 50-60 minutes was our fault.
“It was very intense for us. You can expect them to defend deep in this stadium, but it was 4-6-0 in the first half. If it was easy to win here, a lot more teams would do it.
“I’m over the moon about the result, but we have to talk about the performance. We should have scored more goals – that’s the truth. We have to be honest with ourselves. We could have scored more and we have to – especially in this stadium against a team like Tottenham.
“We were on the ground towards the end and they were coming forward. The spell we’ve had, it costs you rhythm. In the second half a couple of our players were slightly exhausted, but we fought through that.”
The win also means the Merseyside club have now won 20 of their 21 league fixtures so far, their 61 points a record-breaking tally among Europe’s top five leagues at this stage of the campaign. Klopp went on to admit that while setting such a record was ‘special’, he is only focussed on building an unassailable lead at the top of the table.
“It’s special,” he continued. “To win the number of games, to always be ready to fight, that’s what the boys to. The only thing is that you don’t get anything for best starts. The only thing we’re interested in is what we can get in the summer. This league is so strong. We have to be ready.
“Our lead is really not interesting. The moment we have so many points that nobody can catch us anymore, that’s when I’ll be interested.”
See also – Five players with the most Premier League wins ever