Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes his players can still win the Premier League despite surrendering their advantage at the division’s summit.
It was a disappointing weekend for Liverpool, who suffered a frustrating afternoon against Everton on Sunday, when they played out a goalless draw at Goodison Park.
Just the day before Manchester City had moved two points clear of Klopp’s men at the top of the table with a 1-0 win against Bournemouth, meaning with nine games left, the reigning champions are in the driving seat to win the Premier League.
This is the first time since December that City have topped the table when the two title challengers have played the same number of games and in that time the Merseysiders have blown a seven-point lead at the top of the table.
Despite that, Klopp has not lost faith in his players or the club’s hopes of ending their 29-year wait to win England’s top division.
‘I don’t think I have to give my players advice, because they know it already,’ the German said after Sunday’s game.
‘We are not little boys any more. It’s not like we were completely surprised that we can play good football, that we are in the very, very top part of the table. But if you are there, you have to be ready for all the different things that happen.
‘Sometimes we have a lead and everybody says ‘That’s done!’ Twenty games before the end of the season, staying calm in these situations was very easy.’
While City do currently hold an advantage at the top of the table, Klopp believes that with two months of the season left there will be plenty more twists and turns in the title race.
‘Then we have a one-point or two-point lead and everybody says ‘That’s it now’. It’s not important. It’s the beginning of March, who cares? The good thing is we are in that battle.
‘My feeling is we are really prepared for it. Today was a difficult game for us. We got a point. If somebody should have won the game, I think it was only one team. In a wild game, we had chances, big chances, we didn’t use them.’
Up next for Liverpool they host Burnley in the Premier League before facing a huge Champions League clash against Bayern Munich.