Liverpool set record to go 16 points clear
Premier League
By
Reuters
| Jan 12, 2020
Liverpool overcame another obstacle on the path to what looks an almost certain Premier League title triumph as they chalked up a record-breaking 20th win in 21 matches with a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
With closest rivals, Leicester City suffering a shock 2-1 home defeat by Southampton, Roberto Firmino’s goal sent Juergen Klopp’s side 16 points clear at the top with a game in hand.
HUGE GAP
Liverpool and Tottenham contested the Champions League final in June but their now appears a chasm between the two clubs.
Klopp’s side are 31 points better off than Spurs, who are in the eighth spot and look unstoppable.
Their 61 points is the most after 21 games of a Premier League season and such a total has never been achieved at a similar stage of the season in any of Europe’s big five leagues.
“It’s special. To win the number of games, to always be ready to fight, that’s what the boys do,” Klopp said.
“The only thing is that you don’t get anything for best starts. The only thing we’re interested in is what we can get in the summer. This league is so strong. We have to be ready.”
Firmino’s 37th-minute goal proved enough for Liverpool although they had to withstand some late pressure from Jose Mourinho’s side for whom Giovani Lo Celso missed a sitter.
“We intensified the pressure more in the second half. We were more aggressive,” Mourinho, whose side are now nine points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, said.