Just in case anyone forgot, Liverpool today issued a reminder that the title race is still very much on. While the 4-2 scoreline may not really indicate it, it was a thoroughly dominant performance from The Reds.
When the front three of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah click, they look a completely different team. That has been lacking in recent weeks, but there were no such issues this afternoon. Speaking after the game, Jurgen Klopp said this was a statement of intent from his team, a message to Manchester City that they will not be shrugged off easily:
We have only to make sure that we stay in the really interesting competition on top of the table. The message from today is that nobody gets rid of us, if we play as we played today.
We had the perfect mixture of fighting the opponent, fighting the circumstances and playing football. That was really good and I liked it. We have no problem with confidence. We didn’t have a problem after the Everton game (a goalless draw last Sunday).
You (the media) make a big fuss if we score five, then we are the best attacking side in the world, and we score nil and then we have an offensive problem.
Mo Salah has been the focus of some criticism recently, with the Egyptian going on a bit of a barren run relative to his impossibly high standards. Even though he drew a blank again today, the forward was singled out for special praise by his manager.
Today Mo Salah for me was the best player on the pitch and he didn’t score.
I am not sure you will see that in a lot of ratings, because he’s a striker and he didn’t score, but we have no problem with confidence. We are in a good moment.
Most of the things are not that interesting to us.
While Manchester City hold a one point advantage at the top of the league, the title race is very much on. When looking at the team's remaining fixtures, Liverpool actually have the slightly easier run-in. That could count for little, however, with Klopp's side struggling against some of the division's lesser sides in recent times.
If they are to end their 29-year title drought, they will have to produce eight more performances similar to the one we saw today.
