Jurgen Klopp has warned his Liverpool team their incredible home form doesn't give them a divine right to three points against Tottenham on Sunday afternoon.
The Reds last lost at Anfield in the Premier League back on April 23 2017 when Crystal Palace beat Klopp's men 2-1. Since that game, the Reds have gone 44 games without defeat in front of their home support in the top flight and will be confident of stretching it even further when a Spurs side in something of disarray visit.
However, Klopp has played down talk of an invincible Anfield aura and challenged his charges to put the kind of performance in that will ensure they make it 45 games without defeat in L4 this weekend.
"I was never a player with a run like this, but we do not live it like that," Klopp said. "We just go for it. The numbers - if you did not tell me what it was between 16/17/18 - I would not remember it. It is not important. This is how you do it in sports.
“If you win the gold medal at the Olympic Games, you don’t win the gold medal again next time because you won it last time. You win it because you ran quicker than the others again. That is exactly how sports work."
Klopp called on the home fans to continue to create an atmosphere that allows their players to thrive, suggesting that the support of the Anfield faithful has been key to helping the European champions over the line in certain games this term.
"The only thing we have to respect and use is the good things we do in home games," he added. "We do not do it only in home games, but have this run because we put in a specific mix of attitude and the potential of the boys, plus the crowd. That can make life difficult.
“We saw that at Manchester United last week. The Manchester crowd was really good until we scored the equaliser and then it was (clicks finger) done. That is something that is different here.
"Okay, somebody can score an equaliser but it does not mean we cannot win the game anymore. These are the things we have to keep.
"We all worked for it and deserve it and earned it all together but cannot take it for granted. Against Tottenham, especially. The numbers are not important, only the next game."
Klopp reiterated his claim earlier in the season where he asked his Liverpool players to become "the most ugly team to play against" in their pursuit of winning a league title for the first time in 30 years.
"I would not say people are overly happy with how we play so far," Klopp said. "With the results, yes, but there is a: 'we could be better there, could have scored, not concede...'
"At the start we conceded pretty much a goal all the time but still won and we have talked about these kind of things. So the most important thing is stability and consistency. Then you have to be really spot on.
"If you could always have a start like we did at Barcelona when they passed the ball back we were quicker than they passed the ball and you think, 'oh, what is going on here?' that would be perfect. But it is really that the things that can make you successful you have to bring onto the pitch.
"If it is 10 per cent under that level and you still win, that’s all fine. You can’t always have perfect games. We are in a good moment but to keep that moment we have to run a lot, work really hard and fight like crazy.
"If we do that it is difficult to play against. If you remember the target, I said I wanted us to be the most ugly team to play against. Hopefully for most teams it is like that."
