Klopp Pleased with Benteke Goal, But Knows Striker Has More to Offer

Liverpool played out their second straight win after beating Sunderland 1-0 on the road at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday evening.  Like the Leicester match a few days earlier, a Christian Benteke goal was the difference on the day and though  boss Jürgen Klopp was pleased with the outcome, he knows he still got far from the striker's best effort on the pitch.

"When a player scores the decisive goal, it's always a positive thing," said Klopp after the match. "But I'm sure Christian will know he can play better. But at this moment, we need his goals more than anything else. And he made it again, so we are relieved. It's a good sign, and there is more to come from him."

The win saw Liverpool draw level with arch rivals Manchester United on thirty points for the season, though the Red Devils are one place ahead of Liverpool in the table at sixth based on goal difference. It's a position not lost on Klopp in the context of the Premier League's topsy turvy, unpredictable season.

"30 points is much better than 27, more than three points better to be honest," Klopp confirmed for the mathematically challenged. "You can see how close it is. The best teams in the league have six, seven, nine points more than we do after 19 games. It's not that much. January is coming and we're playing every three days. Tonight was our squad we have at the moment. We had no more players. Everybody needs a bit of luck and we will see."

Liverpool close 2015 on a positive note, but a lot can still happen between January and May. The team's injury situation borders on ridiculous at the moment, and as Klopp correctly surmises, though Liverpool might have closed the gap between themselves and the league leaders, they'll still need a bit of help elsewhere in the league if they want to close that gap in a way that matters come the end of the season.