Jurgen Klopp labelled Liverpool’s performance in the 3-1 victory over Manchester United one of the best displays of his tenure.
Substitute Xherdan Shaqiri’s late double secured the points from a dominant showing at Anfield, with Jesse Lingard’s first-half goal having cancelled out Sadio Mane’s opener.
The victory puts Liverpool – who remain unbeaten – back on top of the Premier League, one point ahead of Manchester City, and 19 in front of sixth-place United.
Klopp hailed his players’ “perfect” performance in the opening stages.
“It was a brilliant start, one of the best performances we’ve had since I’ve been in Liverpool,” Klopp, who took over at Anfield in October 2015, told a news conference.
“For the first half hour we were outstanding, scored only one but I don’t think anyone expects four or five against this United team.
“How we played was just perfect, we passed into the right areas and played in behind the lines.
“Then for half an hour we lost the momentum of the game a bit, they scored, it was more open and I had no problem with the half-time whistle to be honest.
“Not because United were dominating the game, but because it was more open.
“We got our dominance back step by step and Shaqiri closed the game. That was unbelievably nice and deserved.
“You need a bit of luck and both goals were deflected but you need that. The first goal – what a goal. A super pass and a super control and finish. Nearly a perfect night.”
Manchester City’s 3-1 victory over Everton on Saturday had put Pep Guardiola’s side in pole position, but Klopp insisted Liverpool were not under any extra pressure as a result.
“We ignored it completely, we didn’t think about it,” Klopp said. “But we are not silly. We know the table.
“We really didn’t speak about it. It’s not like if City win we come into training and say, ‘Did you see what City did?’
“We are focused on our thing, and we will see where that leads us to.
“At the moment, we respect them a lot and they respect us. Then we meet on January 3 again, and then we think about City a lot.”
