Jurgen Klopp has offered hope to Liverpool fans by stating: “Manchester City are not invincible”.
The Reds boss admits that, while his side are much better than they were last season, his rivals at the top of the table are not taking it easy. But, as he prepared for a tough visit to Stoke on Wednesday in a tricky fixture the Merseyside club dare not lose with City so rampant, he remained positive.
“City are in a really good moment, but they don’t look unbeatable,” he said. “I saw the game against Huddersfield on Sunday. And yes, City did deserve to win, but Huddersfield had one or two moments as well.
“If City stop winning and our team is in a good situation, then it is possible we can still get to them.
“How long that will take, I have no idea. Last year, we had a really nice squad, but this year, it is even better – it has more depth.
“We didn’t have a bench like this before — and we certainly need it now. But I think we are going 100 per cent in the right direction. I can’t promise any more than that – and the other clubs are not struggling.”
Klopp is adamant that his side won’t be struggling, either.
In fact, he believes they have hit the sort of form that can catapult them seriously into the title race during the busy festive period.
The Reds have lost just two Premier League games so far. And Klopp believes they have the mental strength – despite recent criticism – to win at places such as Stoke on a wet, windy Wednesday night to set up a real challenge by the time of the New Year.
“We have to use our experience, so that makes us mentally stronger,” he added.
“If you have a problem and you can solve it immediately, then it is not a mental issue. “The team can only get stronger for having had common experiences like we have already.
“The thing we need to do is get even closer and closer and closer until you are so close you can get to the top – and that’s the plan.
“It is absolutely possible that we could go up three or four positions and reach the top, because that is where we want to be. It is also where we think we should be.
“At the moment, we are a little way off — and that is absolutely OK. Our position is, obviously, what we want to improve – it is just a matter of how long it takes. Form-wise, we are really good and that’s very important for keeping us in the race.
“I’m really optimistic about the next few weeks. If we can just keep all the players healthy, fit and fresh, then we have real quality there and that is what we have to use.”
Klopp will have Emre Can and Dejan Lovren back, and will restore Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino to his starting line-up.