Jurgen Klopp has vowed Liverpool will be a “pain in the backside” for their Champions League qualification rivals after they edged nearer the top four.
The Reds resumed their Premier League campaign after the World Cup break with a hard-earned 3-1 win at Aston Villa on Boxing Day.
Klopp’s side remain in sixth place but have moved to within five points of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur with a game in hand.
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And the Reds boss said: “We have to be the pain in the backside for everybody. That’s how it is. Of course, we are the chasers.
“We are not in the best position, there is distance between us and other teams. The first two or three are maybe too far away, I don’t know. If they win all their games we have no chance.
“But there are other teams (battling for) the Champions League spots at the moment and we have to do our part. That means winning football games and we will see how close we can get. It must be the target, to qualify for the Champions League. For that we have a lot of games still to go for. We all have to go through difficult moments in games, between games and after them.
“We got three points today and that’s the best way to get closer to these spots. Of course we go for that, no doubt about it, we don’t think we have it. Not at all, as all the teams up there have played an exceptional season.
“It’s just as long as we can see them, then we will fight for getting them, that’s it.”
Goals from Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk put Liverpool in control by the break at Villa Park, although the visitors than had to withstand strong pressure after Ollie Watkins pulled one back.
But a debut senior strike from teenager Stefan Bajectic two minutes after coming on as a 79th-minute substitute earned the Reds a third successive Premier League win for the first time this season.
And of the game, Klopp said: “I loved it. In a difficult game we played a lot of good stuff. We were not superior in all moments, especially at the start of the second half when Aston Villa were clearly better. We lost rhythm there, and when you lose rhythm in an intense game it’s difficult to come back.
“But we found ways to get out of that. We had some massive counter-attacks and could have scored the third goal much earlier. I loved the start of the game, that was really, really good and exactly what we wanted.”
Klopp added: “You come here, it’s Boxing Day, everyone is waiting for this game, it’s Aston Villa with a new manager with four weeks’ time to train. Unai Emery is an exceptional coach and what he can do in four weeks is crazy.
“So we were kind of prepared but how can you be really prepared? How we dealt with what they wanted to do in the first half was exceptional. Yes, they had their moments but we had ours as well.
“It was a really good game. 2-0 up, start of second half made life a bit more uncomfortable for us, but the counters we had were insane and we could have scored there, and the goal we did score was my favourite one today with all the quality.
“Darwin, after the game he played and the bad luck he had in moments, staying that calm and setting that goal up, and Stefan being that calm and having the necessary luck with the finish, it was special.”
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