Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp saw his side go back atop the Premier League table today with a very convincing 4-1 rout of Cardiff City today. The other two teams that entered the weekend level on points with the Reds are still yet to play as Chelsea visits Burnley on Sunday and Manchester City visits Tottenham Hotspur Monday night.
So while the Reds are currently in first place by their lonesome for the time being, Jurgen Klopp knows it could be fleeting, and he thus downplayed the importance of their current standing.
“Not really,” the German answered when asked about the importance of being in the penthouse after their first 10 games.
“What makes the difference is the number of points because the difference between 23 and 26 feels like 20 points. It’s really important to stay on track. We will all meet each other, it’s unbelievable that five or six clubs have such a big number of points but it only makes it even more intense.”
Klopp then pointed out how a very intense title race between the clubs all the top is great for neutrals, and fans of just football in general. He also did a variation of the it’s a marathon, not a sprint cliche.
“It’s good for the people and the supporters of different clubs,” Klopp continued.
“Today it was clear that if we win it would be like that. We won, but for us it’s just the next step, that’s cool. Now we have time to recover. It’s the first time for a lot of the boys that they don’t play in three days’ time.”
There will be no midweek game for the Reds coming up this week, so Klopp won’t have to worry about rotating his squad for a Champions League of FA Cup or League Cup clash. Then next Saturday brings a match that will certainly be the most anticipated fixture of the weekend- at fourth place Arsenal.
“We will use the time to recover then prepare the Arsenal game, which will be another nice challenge,” he said.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Lineups.com and Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.