Klopp Talk: “Only City Can Stop City”

Last week, Manchester City played ahead of Liverpool, allowing the title favourites to re-take the lead for at least a day and put a little extra pressure on the Reds when they faced Manchester United on Sunday.

This week, it’s the other way around, with Liverpool kicking off festivities when face Wolves on Friday while City host Crystal Palace on Sunday. However, Jürgen Klopp doesn’t see any advantages in the quirks of the fixture list.

“We didn’t think about the City result,” he told reporters at his pre-match press conference. “We don’t decide the league on one matchday, we have to be consistent. We are always motivated at the highest level.

“We are really concentrated on our situation and, to be honest, we are in December and Tottenham are six points back and we play them still, City play them as well. And then Chelsea, Arsenal—they are all so close.”

In the bigger picture, of course, whoever keeps winning is going to be the side that takes the title. Whether it’s Liverpool or City or Spurs or Chelsea or Arsenal, there isn’t going to be room for many more dropped points.

But the title won’t be won in any one weekend, and the assumption heading in to this round of fixtures will be that both Liverpool and City will win their games. What order they kick off in won’t change that.

The order of the kickoffs and whether any of the teams near the top of the table drop points in any given week also won’t change the fundamental fact that, this season, Manchester City are the title favourites.

“So many things can still happen,” Klopp added. “Why should we be thinking about one opponent like we are the only ones who can stop City? It’s not like that, this season looks completely different.

“Maybe only City can stop City, to be honest, so we have to play our own game and try to get as many points as possible, that’s all.”