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EPL 2021-22: No Salah, no Mane, no problem! Klopp pleased after Liverpool find goals to keep Man City in sight

Liverpool moved up to second place in the Premier League table on Sunday following a 3-0 win over Brentford at Anfield.

football EPL 2021-22 No Salah no Mane no problem Jurgen Klopp pleased after Liverpool find goals to keep Manchester City in sight
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United Kingdom, First Published Jan 17, 2022, 1:04 PM IST

Jurgen Klopp will be a pleased man after his team Liverpool moved up to second place in the Premier League table on Sunday following an impressive 3-0 win over Brentford at Anfield. Despite the absence of star players Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, who are away representing their countries in the Africa Cup of Nations, the Reds bagged crucial three points thanks to goals from Fabinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and birthday boy Takumi Minamino.

On Saturday, Manchester City's 1-0 win over now Chelsea underlined the defending champions' dominance in the Premier League title race. However, Liverpool ensured they finished the weekend with a win leaving them 11 points behind Pep Guardiola's side with a game in hand and a trip to the Etihad yet to come. Although it is a distant second, it will still take a remarkable swing for Manchester City to throw away the title chances from here.

If Liverpool wins their game in hand and then registers a crucial win over Pep Guardiola's side away from home at the start of April, Manchester City will have to defend and give a five-point gap through to the final day. This would give Manchester City little room for error. But obviously, this also depends on how Jurgen Klopp's side perform from here on with the hope of being perfect. However, given the rising demands of this season owing to injuries, Covid-19 outbreaks, absences and fixture congestion, it won't be an easy task for Liverpool. The Reds will surely be in the hunt for now because Liverpool has pulled off a comprehensive win on Sunday without their two leading players.

Also read: EPL 2021-22, Gameweek 22 review: Manchester City, Liverpool register wins; United held by Aston Villa

Following their win over Brentford, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp expressed happiness over his team's attacking play in the German's 350th game in charge. Klopp had repeatedly been asked if the absence of Salah and Mane along with Naby Keita led to Liverpool's failure to register a win over the 10-men Arsenal in Thursday's Carabao Cup semi-final first leg. The German, however, seemed more comfortable answering this issue after seeing the Red net three goals on Sunday.

"The win is really helpful, to calm these discussions down. I understand the question and thoughts behind it, but for us, it makes no sense because they're not here - like others with injuries - and we don't want to talk constantly about the boys who aren't in," the Liverpool manager said.

"We have to find ways to break opponents down. Today we did that particularly well, and I'm really happy about that," Klopp added.

The German also said he is 'happy' to reach the milestone of 350 games in charge of Liverpool. So far, under Klopp, the Reds have won the Premier League and Champions League. However, the manager insists that there is still plenty more to achieve at Anfield. "When I look back at the pictures (of when I joined in October 2015), I look completely different, so obviously, it was quite an intense time since then! You invest a lot here," Klopp laughed.

Stating that with time a club becomes family, the German added, "Each little thing you do is worth it because of the size of this club, how emotional the club is, how big the club is and how close we are to each other. It becomes family. You don't get an opportunity very often. I'm lucky I've had that happen a couple of times."

Expressing pleasure over the story that Liverpool are writing, Klopp stated that in his view, the team is far away from finishing the book, so they have to keep writing.

Meanwhile, commenting on the Premier League title race, the Liverpool boss said he does not have to convince anybody outside about his team's chances. "If they want to believe, they can believe. I think people are with us; they want to enjoy the ride and go for it as much as we can. We will try; otherwise, we have nothing to do," Klopp concluded.

Liverpool will face Arsenal in their Carabao Cup semi-final second leg on Thursday at the Emirates Stadium and face Crystal Palace on Sunday to keep their Premier League title hopes alive.

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