Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp on Wednesday hailed his side’s desire not to ease up after clinching the Premier League title as two goals from Mohamed Salah kept the Reds on course for a record points tally with a 3-1 win against Brighton & Hove Albion.
The champions moved to 92 points, making three wins from their final four games enough to break Manchester City’s record of 100 points from two seasons ago.
“We are champions and it could be softening, but it is not — the boys go with everything,” Klopp said. “We now have 92 points and last season we had 97. We got five points more than this last season — that’s unbelievable, I have no idea how we did that.”
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Klopp’s men were quick off the mark with two goals in the first eight minutes to end a run of five games without a goal away from home either side of the COVID-19 shutdown.
Brighton’s desire to play out from the back has been one of the hallmarks of Graham Potter’s first season in charge and the Seagulls look certain to meet their target of staying in the division with a nine-point cushion over the bottom three.
However, the hosts were twice caught out by Liverpool’s press to leave themselves too much to do, despite another promising performance.
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“I saw two very good football teams tonight, both trying to play football,” Klopp said. “They had a brave formation and set up, but we had a super solution for that. Our high press was outstanding.”
Salah remained in the hunt for a third Golden Boot in as many seasons as a Liverpool player as he slotted home Naby Keita’s cross to open the scoring.
Two minutes later the Reds robbed possession again in the Brighton half and after Salah was held up, Jordan Henderson curled home a brilliant shot into the far corner for a rare goal in an inspirational season for the Liverpool captain.
However, Henderson later limped off with a knee injury that Klopp is concerned could end his season.
“We have to make scans, but we know it is not nothing, so that is already enough,” Klopp said.
Rather than letting the floodgates open, Brighton showed impressive resolve to then take the game to their illustrious visitors.
Brighton got their reward just before halftime when Leandro Trossard connected sweetly with Tariq Lamptey’s cross to halve the deficit.
Salah was clinical when he headed home Andy Robertson’s corner at the near post for his 19th Premier League goal of the season to move within three of Jamie Vardy in the race for the Golden Boot.
Elsewhere, Manchester City bounced back to form with a 5-0 rout of Newcastle United, Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Champions League aspirations stumbled again in a last-gasp 1-0 defeat against Sheffield United and West Ham United lost 1-0 against Burnley.
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