Roberto Firmino’s emphatic 84th-minute strike saw the Reds edge a tight contest at Molineux, after Raul Jimenez had equalised Jordan Henderson’s early opener.
Klopp’s relentless side have now won 22 of their 23 Premier League outings this season, with the unbeaten leaders’ advantage at the top restored to 16 points with a game in hand.
As well as offering a fitness update on Sadio Mane, who was forced off in the first half, Klopp discussed topics including Firmino’s ‘worldie’, Henderson’s contribution, Takumi Minamino’s Premier League debut and more in his post-match press conference.
Read on for a summary…
On Liverpool’s character in grinding out the result…
We knew before, we said it before [the game] and rightly so, this would be a really, really tough game – everybody knew it, pretty much. Wolves are doing so unbelievably well, they are so different to everything else you face during the year. How Nuno sets it up is just really good. Since we played here last year, he replaced three or four players – not replaced them, but now Saiss is in, Dendoncker is in, where Bennett and Boly played. And Traore now, in the moment, I would say he is pretty much unplayable. I have said it now a couple of times and it’s the truth. He is not only a winger anymore, he now keeps the ball, holds the ball and sets up goals. That makes it difficult; the way they defend and then each ball you lose is 100 per cent a counter-attack and half a goal, but for that they had not too many chances. They scored a goal, a super goal, and had a really big one [chance] with an Ali save. I think we were four or five times in a one-on-one situation with the goalie, so there we could have scored.
We scored a wonderful goal after a set-piece, but again not the second, not the third means everything is open and then it gets intense. They scored and then another five to 10 minutes, [it was] Wolves time and then we could calm the game down again and control it. Wolves felt the intensity now as well and we had again chances. Mo again, Bobby alone in front of the goalie. Then a worldie from Bobby, a super, super, super goal. That we can control a game again and that we have the set-pieces we have, we have still pressing situations, we have still counter-press situations, that gives the boys the opportunity to stay in the game because that’s what you need. It’s not only hard for us, it’s hard for the opponent as well. I think the two teams who played the most football so far played against each other, so nobody had an advantage and nobody had a disadvantage. I am really, really pleased, as you can imagine.
On the composure of his players to get the winning goal…
The boys scored one or two goals so far in their careers, but this ball can go wide, into the stands, and then we know the sound of that! That we have different options to score a goal gives us the opportunity to stay in the game. Each corner, if we can produce a corner it feels good for us and feels not so good for the opponent because something could really happen because we are good in that. We only had to calm the game down again – that’s what was needed. The goal they scored was a counter-attack; we were 1-0 up and it was a counter-attack. That makes not too much sense. We don’t go for perfection, we go for a perfect reaction if possible, that’s what we try to do, that we really fight back in difficult situations in the game. That’s what the boys did again and so, we won the game, which is really unbelievable.
On Henderson’s opening goal and performance…
I said last week it was born on the training pitch the corner [we scored from against Manchester United]. Now again, Hendo is the guy. I am not sure since when Hendo is involved in offensive set-pieces, usually most of the time he is protection. Now we found a way to involve him again and that he scores that goal is incredible and just another sign for his outstanding shape in the moment. He played an unbelievable game tonight again in a difficult game where he is really shouting at everybody. He pretty much keeps everybody on their toes. It’s not about shouting, it’s about what you say and he only asks for things he expects from himself as well – it’s not 'run for me' or do this or that. It is just good, we could not be in this situation without these kind of characters.
On Minamino’s Premier League bow after he replaced the injured Mane…
Super. We had the situation that Sadio goes off, we played tonight slightly different to usually. We had to defend in a 4-4-2 then played offensive in our normal system. If now Div is coming on, who would deserve it, 100 per cent, because he is in incredible shape, it’s really very offensive very early in the game. Taki had now two or three weeks training with us, played different positions in training at least, played centrally in the FA Cup game, now played right and left wing. He can play that, we need him, but he is not a winger in this understanding, he’s a player for between the lines so Oxlade had then to be a bit higher so that we had still offers in behind, so we can still stretch the formation. So it was really difficult for Taki, he felt immediately the calf, at half-time he needed treatment – we hope it’s nothing and he could go through so it should be fine. That was for the first Premier League game exceptionally well and he is completely integrated in the team and that’s really good.
On Joe Gomez’s form…
[He is in] incredible shape, absolutely. But I expect that from Joe and today I saw a few things he can do better. As I said, if the boys would not be in the shape they are in, we have no chance to win football games in that league. Everybody wants to beat us obviously, that’s normal, so they are all, and Joe as well, in an outstanding shape. But he, like the team, has still things he can do better like we can do a lot of things better.
On whether the sizeable lead at the top of the table means he is under less pressure than during last season’s title race…
When was the pressure higher on us, this year or last year? Human beings are like this – I don’t think about it, I had to ask exactly how many points clear we are, that’s the truth. I really forgot it in the week, with the number of games, I didn’t think about it. I know we play Sunday against Shrewsbury and Wednesday West Ham and I know we play Saturday: that’s three games in seven days, that’s a lot. I know we lost tonight Sadio Mane, that’s what I think about, that’s the pressure I have. All the rest is not pressure. We want to win football games and when I arrived here a few years ago we wanted to win football games. So that’s the pressure [and] yes, I feel that. Apart from that nothing, it’s just football.