Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had a playful joke with a journalist following a slip of the tongue after the Reds’ thumping 4-0 win over Southampton on Saturday.
The Anfield club opened up a 22-point lead over second-placed Manchester City at the weekend after second-half goals from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jordan Henderson and a brace from Mohamed Salah gave them the victory.
It means that the Reds have earned 73 points from a possible 75 on offer, taking them to the cusp of the title, while over the course of the last year, they have won 100 points from a possible 102.
An unfortunate journalist tried to point that fact out to Klopp but instead suggested that the Anfield club had taken 100 points from 102 games – form that would have the Champions League holders in relegation trouble.
Klopp took the mistake in his stride and showed his usual good humour by replying: “That would be sh*t!”
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After the reported corrected himself and gave the German the actual figures, he replied by saying: “Great – yippee!”
The ex-Mainz and Borussia Dortmund boss has stated in the past that he is not interested in records as Liverpool try to win their first Premier League title and first English crown for 30 years.
They are well on course for doing so, though competing an FA Cup double promises to be a harder test, particularly since the manager has said that he will play an Under-23 side for the midweek replay against Shrewsbury, which impinges on the club’s winter break.
As such, the first team are likely to be next back in action when they play Norwich on February 15, just three days before travelling to face Atletico Madrid at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano in Spain as their defence of their European Cup continues.
With a healthy lead over their rivals in England – and Champions League football already secured for next season – the Anfield side can afford to channel their energy towards that fixture in the Spanish capital.