Jurgen Klopp insists he cannot afford to start thinking about smashing the Premier League points record after Liverpool ground out a battling 3-1 win at Brighton.
Mohamed Salah’s double and a fine strike from captain Jordan Henderson earned the runaway champions a 30th top-flight victory of a remarkable season.
The Reds require a further nine points from fixtures against Burnley, Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle to surpass the 100 points Manchester City accrued two seasons ago.
Klopp admits his side were far from their fluent best on the south coast and is taking nothing for granted in the pursuit of a record-breaking points haul.
“What can I say? When I think about the next four opponents and think we will get 12, 10, or whatever points, I can’t do that,” said the Reds manager. “How could I assume we could get all these points? When I think about 92 points, I think how could we get 97 last year (finishing second), it’s unbelievable.
“First and foremost you have to fight for the three points. That’s what we did tonight and I like that a lot because that’s the mother and the father of each win that you really work hard for it, and the boys did that again, that’s great.”
Liverpool looked like making light work of lowly Albion after Salah and recalled captain Henderson each netted during a blistering opening eight minutes at the Amex Stadium.
But the visitors were made to dig deep after the Seagulls fought back and deservedly halved the deficit through Leandro Trossard just before the break.
Reds top scorer Salah eventually made the points safe 14 minutes from time by heading home his 19th league goal of another prolific campaign, while Klopp was left with some cause for concern after Henderson limped off late on.
The German is unsure how serious his skipper’s apparent knee issue is but is braced for bad news.
“I don’t know, honestly. I didn’t see the situation back on the pitch but I know that it will not be nothing, probably,” he said. “That’s how it is but we have to wait, I cannot say more.”
PA
