Jurgen Klopp has branded his Liverpool side “proper warriors” after seeing them prove that they have the stomach for a Premier League title battle.
They had trailed in that contest, and been pegged back to 2-2 at one stage, while James Milner was dismissed late on after collecting a second yellow card.
Klopp’s side rose to all of the challenges put in front of them, with Mohamed Salah starring once again as he bagged a brace to complement efforts from Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.
Victory for defending champions Manchester City on Sunday means that Liverpool’s lead stands at just four points, but they have displayed commendable fighting spirit to remain at the front of the pack.
“These boys are ready to do that, they are real fighters. It’s a bunch of proper warriors – I love that. They all stick their leg in or whatever,” Klopp told the Reds’ official website.
“If you would have seen Millie sitting in the dressing room, completely frustrated obviously because of the [red] card but both knees bleeding – where can you get that from on that fantastic pitch?
“It was a really hard-fought victory. It’s so cool. It’s just nice then to see the faces of all the people [in the crowd]. You are close enough, you go there and see the happy faces. That’s cool.”
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Liverpool have already bowed out of the FA Cup and Carabao Cup this season, unlike City, and are hoping to benefit from a less gruelling schedule.
Klopp believes his players boast the strength to handle whatever is asked of them, though, with the German confident that mental fatigue and physical fatigue can be avoided.
He added: “That’s December. January is not that much.
“That’s not the problem; the boys could play from [the mind] now pretty much every second day. They are really in it.
“We had to come through the centre-half situation and that somehow worked out; then the full-back situation worked out somehow so far. That’s intense. In midfield, Gini [Wijnaldum] is not in so you cannot make the changes you want.
“We need to make sure we are ready. If you remember the first game against Crystal Palace – wow, what a difficult game; Brighton at home, a very difficult game. We had these in the first part of the season as well.
“The games will stay difficult, there’s no doubt about that. But the boys showed again they are ready to fight each battle, wherever we go. That’s good.”
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