Klopp feels sympathy for fans who want Liverpool to fail in title race

Jurgen Klopp says he has sympathy for fans who are rooting against Liverpool to win their first top-flight title in 29 years.

The Reds sit top of the table in the Premier League, four points above reigning champions Manchester City heading into this weekend.

While a dominant force in the old England first division, Liverpool have never taken home the Premier League title after its inception in the 1992-93 season.

The last league title for the Reds came in 1989-90, with the club’s supporters enduring an agonising wait that has now spanned almost a full three decades.

But while the Reds could find themselves ending that drought this season, many fans across England are actively rooting against the club and hoping that, instead, it's City who win the league.

And though that might be seen as a source of motivation, Klopp does not think of it in those terms, instead having sympathy for fans who are expending a lot of energy rooting against his squad.

“I never thought about that,” Klopp said of creating an “us against the world” mentality. “I love winning because of winning and not because someone else has to lose.

“I cannot take a personal boost from winning and thinking they lost. I am not like that.

“If people think like that and gain something out of the fact that we will not win the league, I feel for them. I cannot use them for motivation because they are not people I am interested in, to be honest.

"It is a waste of time for me to think of anybody losing something. If you win it, you win it, and you deserve to. 'Congratulations. Carry on.' That is how I see it.”

Klopp admitted he is not aware of anyone personally who wants his team to lose, noting even Everton fans he’s met would enjoy the city winning the crown, so long as the Toffees are not in the title mix.

However, he doesn’t find it shocking that Manchester, given the presence of both Man United and Man City, might have it out for his side.

“I don't know who thinks like that about us, but probably in Manchester there are not a lot of Liverpool supporters,” Klopp said.

“Unfortunately I don't know enough people in England and the people I do know - even if they are Evertonians and know me personally - they think 'if not us, then you can win it'. It is still Liverpool [the city].

“But it is not a surprise that people in Manchester might not want us to win it!”