• Liverpool's Georginio Wijnaldum celebrates scoring their first goal against West Ham. Reuters
    Liverpool's Georginio Wijnaldum celebrates scoring their first goal against West Ham. Reuters
  • West Ham United's Mark Noble in action with Liverpool's Georginio Wijnaldum and Fabinho. Reuters
    West Ham United's Mark Noble in action with Liverpool's Georginio Wijnaldum and Fabinho. Reuters
  • West Ham United's Issa Diop in action with Liverpool's Alisson. Reuters
    West Ham United's Issa Diop in action with Liverpool's Alisson. Reuters
  • West Ham United's French defender Issa Diop (C) celebrates their equaliser. Reuters
    West Ham United's French defender Issa Diop (C) celebrates their equaliser. Reuters
  • West Ham United's Pablo Fornals in action with Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk and Alisson. Reuters
    West Ham United's Pablo Fornals in action with Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk and Alisson. Reuters
  • West Ham United's Pablo Fornals celebrates scoring their second goal as Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez look on. Reuters
    West Ham United's Pablo Fornals celebrates scoring their second goal as Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez look on. Reuters
  • Pablo Fornals celebrates. Reuters
    Pablo Fornals celebrates. Reuters
  • Liverpool's Mohamed Salah controls the ball. AFP
    Liverpool's Mohamed Salah controls the ball. AFP
  • West Ham United's Lukasz Fabianski makes a save from Liverpool's Mohamed Salah. Reuters
    West Ham United's Lukasz Fabianski makes a save from Liverpool's Mohamed Salah. Reuters
  • Mohamed Salah of Liverpool. EPA
    Mohamed Salah of Liverpool. EPA
  • Liverpool's Mohamed Salah scores their second goal past West Ham United's Lukasz Fabianski. Reuters
    Liverpool's Mohamed Salah scores their second goal past West Ham United's Lukasz Fabianski. Reuters
  • Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates after scoring to make it 2-2. EPA
    Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates after scoring to make it 2-2. EPA
  • Liverpool's Sadio Mane celebrates scoring their third goal with Roberto Firmino. Reuters
    Liverpool's Sadio Mane celebrates scoring their third goal with Roberto Firmino. Reuters
  • Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp shakes hands with Sadio Mane. Reuters
    Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp shakes hands with Sadio Mane. Reuters
  • Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold in action with West Ham United's Lukasz Fabianski before Sadio Mane scores. Reuters
    Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold in action with West Ham United's Lukasz Fabianski before Sadio Mane scores. Reuters

Jurgen Klopp hails 'incredible' Liverpool after matching Manchester City's record of 18 consecutive Premier League wins


Steve Luckings
  • English
  • Arabic

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp hailed the "incredible" achievement of his players after Monday night's 3-2 victory over West Ham United saw them equal most consecutive Premier League wins.

Sadio Mane's 81st-minute winner secured a comeback victory for the Premier League leaders and also tied them with Manchester City on 18 successive wins in the English top tier.

Klopp's side can make the record their own on Saturday with victory at Watford, and the German warned his charges to be ready for a ferocious reception at Vicarage Road.

"I said at the beginning we want to write our own stories, create our own history. Obviously, the boys took that seriously and that's all cool but just not too important at the moment," Klopp said.

"It's so special. The numbers are incredible, so difficult. We are just in the situation and want to recover and prepare for the next game.

"The next opponent is really waiting and wants to fight us, the whole stadium at Watford will go for us, that's completely normal. There will be a special atmosphere and we have to be 100 per cent ready."

Liverpool are on 79 points, 22 clear of second-placed City, and will secure their first league title in 30 years by taking 12 points from their 11 remaining matches.

"Could I have wished for a better position to go into these last 11 games? No, I would never have thought it was possible, but each one of them is really difficult and we respect that a lot," Klopp added.

Liverpool were in danger of dropping points for the first time since their draw at Manchester United on October 20 after falling behind to struggling West Ham in the second half at Anfield.

Georginio Wijnaldum put Liverpool ahead early on but Issa Diop equalised soon after.

Pablo Fornals put the visitors ahead before Lukasz Fabianski's woeful blunder allowed Mohamed Salah to equalise with his 19th goal of the season.

Mane completed the fightback with nine minutes left as Liverpool restored their 22-point lead over Manchester City.

The defeat leaves the Hammers third bottom and mired in the relegation quagmire with only 24 points from 27 matches.

The win also preserved Liverpool's superb record without defeat. The Merseysiders are unbeaten in their last 44 league matches, just five short of Arsenal's all-time English record of 49.