Liverpool may be 13 points clear of the pack with a game in hand as the calendar turns to 2020, but that doesn’t mean the Reds are celebrating the Premier League title just yet.
After beating Wolves 1-0 on a goal by Sadio Mane just before halftime, Klopp was adamant that the team is still proceeding like they have everything to gain.
“We are a unit so we fight until somebody says ‘it’s enough’ and ‘you have enough points’ or not,” Klopp said following Sunday’s match at Anfield. “We will see. But it’s not about belief. If we were not confident it would be really crazy but it’s not about knowing, or wanting to know, that it’s already done. Imagine, really, if you asked me and I sat here and said ‘yeah, actually, I think it’s done’...That would be really crazy.”
“Since five, six or seven weeks ago we are still asking that question constantly,” Klopp continued. “And I, as a normal human being, have the same answer. Because it’s not done.”
Only one team in Premier League history has blown a 10+ point Christmas Day lead, as Newcastle collapsed and succumbed to Manchester United’s 1995/96 squad that included Eric Cantona and David Beckham. Two years ago, Manchester City held a 15-point lead through 20 games, and they wound up thumping the rest of the English top flight, finishing with a 19-point margin atop the league. The last time the Reds were atop the list at Christmas was in the clogged 2013 title race that saw Man City eventually emerge victorious.