Jurgen Klopp has offered an ominous warning to the rest of the Premier League after insisting that Liverpool ‘are not even close’ to their best despite a strong start to the season.
The Reds are currently top of the table having gone unbeaten in the league thus far, with four wins and two draws from their opening six top-flight games, while they are also yet to taste defeat in either the Carabao Cup or the Champions League.
Their most recent fixture – which came in the latter competition – saw them once again wreak havoc away against Porto, with Tuesday night’s clash seeing them run out comfortable 5-1 winners to maintain their perfect start to their European campaign.
That thrashing had come after a disappointing, yet entertaining, draw with newly-promoted Brentford on Saturday evening, with Klopp’s men twice squandering the lead as the hosts snatched a late equaliser to secure a well-earned point.
Those high-scoring encounters have ensured that Liverpool end September having scored an impressive 20 goals in all competitions, with such form seeing them once again firmly in the mix for major honours, following a somewhat underwhelming 2020/21 season.
Despite that current good run, Klopp has ominously admitted that his side are ‘not even close’ to being at their best, as they prepare to take on champions Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.
“To be honest when people said we scored 20 goals in September it didn’t feel like it. I have a lot of chances on my mind – and I’m really positive – that we missed,” he explained.
“It is not about that I want to score 40 goals or whatever, it is just we are not even close to what we think it should exactly look like.
“We scored a lot of goals, that is true, but we missed a lot of chances in that period. We are in a good moment but that’s what we have to be to have a chance against them (City).”
Having been disrupted by a succession of injuries last term, particularly in defence, the Merseyside club currently look much more settled, although the German admitted his side are still not at the level they were before last season’s injury crisis disrupted their rhythm.
“Last season we had to play midfielders in the last lines, and all of a sudden nothing was the same.
“In the middle of the season you have to reinvent your game – we needed that time to add depth to our existing qualities. It took time, and we are not back to what we did before.
“But we changed some things as well, and are much closer to what we did before than last year. So it means we have stability, and then you have freedom for the offensive stuff in dangerous and threatening situations…and you can score more often.”
