Jurgen Klopp claimed Liverpool played “football like hell” after they inflicted Chelsea’s first defeat of the Premier League season.
The Reds ran Chelsea ragged in a blistering first half and led thanks to goals from Dejan Lovren and Jordan Henderson. They then showed their defensive mettle to hang on for a deserved 2-1 victory after Diego Costa halved the deficit.
And Anfield boss Klopp beamed afterwards:
“The beginning was brilliant. We played football like hell! It was very intense, very lively, very flexible, our build-up was brilliant in the first half.
“I was really happy with the style of play, and the confidence we had.”
Klopp may have got carried away with his side’s first-half display, but he was not making the same mistake about his side’s prospects this season.
“Are we title contenders? Someone asked me that when we won 3-1 here last season. My answer was: ‘Are you crazy?’
“We have 10 points. That’s fantastic. I’m really happy with that after these difficult fixtures. We know we can play good football, we’re convinced about our quality. We just have to do it every week, every three days.”
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson echoed his manager’s words and believes that their performance is a confidence boost for the club.
He said: “It’s a big victory, it keeps our momentum going, I think we’ve been brilliant the last few games. I had a good feeling going into the game and I think we produced.
“We knew it would be difficult against Chelsea and got to defend well but I thought we defended excellently throughout the game and deserved the three points.
“It gives good confidence but we have to keep doing what we keep doing.”
Lovren was equally impressed with the Reds’ first-half display, adding:
“I think we did brilliant especially the first half, we played some of the best football this season. At the end, a deserved win.
“We are acting like a team and the spirit around the club is perfect so we need to keep working stronger and stronger.”