Jürgen Klopp believes Chelsea must be the luckiest side among the Premier League title contenders after keeping Eden Hazard and Diego Costa free from serious injury this season.
The Liverpool manager wonders whether his side could have been in a similar position had he had Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge always fit.
Liverpool are second in the table, six points adrift of a Chelsea side who have secured 11 straight wins. Klopp admires Antonio Conte’s team and feels they are worthy leaders as the halfway point approaches, but he cannot help but wonder if Liverpool would be better off with their two star forwards always available.
“There is no perfect system in world football, but when they go on like this they are the deserved champions, nobody could have a doubt about this,” Klopp told Sky Sports News.
“I am pretty sure that until now Chelsea are maybe the team that have had the most luck with injuries. We lost Phil [Coutinho] and Daniel [Sturridge] and Danny Ings in difficult moments when you really could use them. If it’s Hazard and Costa at Chelsea, is it the same afterwards?”
Klopp, whose team play Stoke on Tuesday, is aiming to deliver a first English league title for Liverpool since 1990. He said of Chelsea: “Of course they are the team to beat because they are very experienced, maybe the most experienced team in the top flight at the moment.”
But he also noted: “It’s a long season and they all have to play us again and not only us, they have to play Arsenal again and all of the others.”
He believes Liverpool are well set. “We are good enough and the club is big enough. We have the owners we need because they don’t want to sell players. Nobody should leave here because of money. We are not the best-paying club in the world, but we can pay enough to stay.
“This moment at Liverpool is fantastic and we have to use it. We are in the present really good and the future is bright, so go for it.”
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