Klopp: "A Result For The Soul"

As the fourth, fifth, and sixth goals bulged the back of Aston Villa's net, Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp could be seen on the sideline trying to hold back his laughter and excitement. The season has been chock full of disappointing results to relegation-threatened teams, so a strong display against Villa was both unexpected and a relief.

Despite his excitement on the sidelines, Klopp was much more subdued in the post-match press conference, seemingly out of respect for Villa.

"2-0 at half-time is a good result, even when you had a two-goal lead a week ago and gave it away!" Klopp said, referencing last week's capitulation to Sunderland, "It is one of the best results in the world at half-time, but the only thing we have to do is carry on and make a few things better because there were a few moments where Aston Villa came through, they had crosses and while they weren't real chances, it was more dangerous than it should have been.

"We came out and did well again, scored more goals and won 6-0. It [doesn't happen] too often in a manager's life, so we should keep it for bad times. It was a good game for us, a result for the soul, for the table, for our goal difference, so everything was good."

In fact Klopp was almost apologetic about the scoreline, recognizing Villa's near-certain impending relegation.

"It was good but it's not a day to sing songs or things like this for us, that's part of the respect for Aston Villa, a great club in a difficult situation, and we came here and won the game. That's important for us but on the other side, if one team wins 6-0, another team loses and that's not too nice for them so it's a good day for us, and a hard day for Aston Villa."

Relegation will be more difficult for Villa supporters than many other clubs, as the Villains have spent the second most years in England's top flight of any other club (104 years to Everton's 112), and are one of only seven clubs to feature in every year of the Premier League.

This is not to say that Liverpool shouldn't celebrate the win. As we well know, these days are few and far between, even if they do come against relegation-fodder. Indeed, these wins are good for the soul.