Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has highlighted the significance of a good defence in his side’s quest to win the Premier League title.
The Reds are top of the league with four wins from four games, level on points with Chelsea and Watford, but top on goal difference.
This is down to Liverpool’s fine defence this season which has conceded just one goal so far, in their most recent game, a 2-1 win over Leicester City.
And Klopp is happy with the way his side have started the season defensively, with Liverpool’s poor defence having let them down in the past.
“It’s always like this – I think that’s one of the oldest laws in football,” he told Sky Sports.
“Scoring goals wins you games but not conceding wins you championships. That’s really pretty old but still very true.
“You can be the best team in the world offensively, but if you constantly conceded two or three goals [per game] then it’s just not possible to win all of these games.”
Last season, Liverpool made a name for themselves with their exciting attacking play, especially from the trio of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.
But Klopp has admitted, contrary to popular opinion, he would much rather his side be well organised from back to front.
Liverpool have won their first four Premier League games of the season for the first time since the competition was introduced.
Another three points.
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He added: “Because of the football we play people could think I’m first and foremost interested in offensive movements. That’s not true actually, I’m desperate to have good organisation and that’s good when you see them and the boys feel it and when we have more and more when the confidence grows.
“You never can avoid conceding goals but you can avoid conceding the easy goals so you have to make life for your opponent as uncomfortable as possible. Always when they are on the ball they need to be at the top to find a solution against us. That’s the plan, it was always the plan.”
Liverpool’s first conceded goal of the season came through an error from new goalkeeper Alisson, as the Brazilian was tackled by Kelechi Iheanacho having attempted to take the forward on.
The Reds’ next game comes against Tottenham Hotspur after the international break, before their first Champions League match of the season against Paris Saint-Germain.
Liverpool’s impressive defence
Despite spending an initial £56m for the services of Alisson this season, replacing Loris Karius whose high-profile mistakes in the Champions League final seemingly brought his Liverpool career to an end, the Brazilian has not had too much to do so far.
This is largely down to the impressive defensive line in front of him, especially Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez.
Between them, the pair have made 54 defensive actions in Liverpool’s four Premier League games so far, including 22 clearances for van Dijk and 18 for Gomez.
Of teams to finish in the top six last season, no player has won more aerial duels than van Dijk this term, with the Dutch centre-back managing 17 – one more than Manchester United’s Marouane Fellaini.
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