Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says his players are not motivated by the “Holy Grail” of the Premier League title but by the club’s supporters.
The Anfield club have not won the title since 1990 but went back to the top with a 2-0 win in Cardiff. They are two points clear of Manchester City.
“If you are only motivated to win the Holy Grail, then something is wrong with you,” said Klopp.
“We want to win football games because we enjoy the ride with the fans.”
Second-half goals from Georginio Wijnaldum and James Milner gave Klopp’s side a deserved win in south Wales that took them to their highest Premier League points total of 88.
City can go back top if they beat rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford in their game in hand on Wednesday (20:00 BST kick-off).
Liverpool’s best Premier League seasons | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Points | Season | Final position | Top scorer | Manager |
* season ongoing | ||||
88* | 2018-19 | N/A | Mohamed Salah (23)* | Jurgen Klopp |
86 | 2008-09 | 2nd | Steven Gerrard (24) | Rafael Benitez |
84 | 2013-14 | 2nd | Luis Suarez (31) | Brendan Rodgers |
82 | 2005-06 | 3rd | Steven Gerrard (23) | Rafael Benitez |
80 | 2001-02 | 2nd | Michael Owen (29) | Gerard Houllier |
76 | 2007-08 | 4th | Fernando Torres (33) | Rafael Benitez |
76 | 2016-17 | 4th | Philippe Coutinho (14) | Jurgen Klopp |
75 | 2017-18 | 4th | Mohamed Salah (44) | Jurgen Klopp |
Klopp said: “In the end, we will see how many points we have and then we get what we get.
“We are motivated to play for this club. We have no influence on the other games, it is how it is. Our next game is against Huddersfield, which will be difficult again for different reasons.
“Some people up in Liverpool might ask us if we are thinking about Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals. We will be completely focused on Huddersfield.
“On Wednesday, there is a game as well [between Manchester United and Manchester City]. When we played Manchester United, they were in a much better moment than they are now and that was 0-0.”
Klopp was unhappy – as was counterpart Neil Warnock – that Cardiff had not watered the pitch during the game, but said his side had prepared for that.
“The ball didn’t roll like normal. Everybody saw it,” he said. “It doesn’t make football easy when the pitch is dry.
“Dry pitches are dangerous for players injury-wise. I don’t know exactly why the pitch was dry – but we were prepared.
“We trained yesterday for one hour and 10 minutes on a bone-dry pitch just to get used to it.”
Race for the Premier League title | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date | Liverpool fixtures | Date | Man City fixtures |
24 April | Manchester United (A) | ||
26 April | Huddersfield (H) | 28 April | Burnley (A) |
4 May | Newcastle (A) | 6 May | Leicester (H) |
12 May | Wolves (H) | 12 May | Brighton (A) |