“City already killed one of the questions?” Jürgen Klopp jokingly asked as he entered the press room. Kevin De Bruyne’s early goal at Burnley threatened Liverpool’s place on the Premier League summit before Klopp had completed media duties, but his joy and confidence remained intact. As it should, having trailed the reigning champions by 14 points less than three months ago.
Liverpool’s relentlessness, more than the form that eventually overcame an obstinate Watford side, will trouble Pep Guardiola before next Sunday’s pivotal meeting between the title contenders at the Etihad Stadium. Liverpool were far from their fluid, creative best against a relegation-threatened opponent but that was an irrelevance alongside a 10th successive league win that took them briefly above their title rivals.
