Jurgen Klopp skirts Shankly comparison as Liverpool bounce back to beat Bournemouth

Bournemouth's Nathan Ake in action with Liverpool's Mohamed Salah during Saturday's Premier League match. (Reuters)
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LIVERPOOL, England: Jurgen Klopp insisted he will never compare himself to legendary former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly after the Reds bounced back to beat Bournemouth 2-1 and move within three wins of ending a 30-year wait for the Premier League title.

A 22nd consecutive home league win broke the English top flight record set by Shankly鈥檚 Liverpool in 1972 and settled any nerves over the title race after a run of three defeats in four games in all competitions.

Callum Wilson鈥檚 controversial early opener sent shockwaves around Anfield. However, the prolific duo of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane quickly turned the game around to open a 25-point lead at the top of the table.

鈥淲e will never compare with this fella,鈥� said Klopp on beating Shankly鈥檚 record. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 great. We didn鈥檛 think about the number before the game but after we can. It鈥檚 nice, it鈥檚 special, but today is a very good example, we have to fight hard.

鈥淲e are not geniuses, but we can really fight and that鈥檚 all we have to do until the end of the season and see what we get from it.鈥�

The spread of coronavirus could have a big impact on the Reds鈥� title celebrations in the weeks to come with the possibility of games being played behind closed doors. 

But the abandonment of the normal pre-match ritual of handshakes was the only disruption to the Premier League calendar this weekend.

Liverpool鈥檚 dip in form has coincided with a lack of clean sheets for Klopp鈥檚 men after a run of 10 in 11 league games between early December and mid-February.

The hosts鈥� backline was breached again after just nine minutes, although Klopp was rightly furious that VAR did not intervene to disallow the goal.

Joe Gomez was knocked off balance by Wilson to start the move and the Bournemouth striker then had the simple task of tapping home Jefferson Lerma鈥檚 cross.

鈥淔rom my point of view it鈥檚 100 percent a foul. It shows the problem with VAR. It鈥檚 not clear and obvious, I don鈥檛 know how that鈥檚 possible,鈥� added Klopp.

Defeat leaves the Cherries still in the bottom three and they were left to rue not making even more of a bright start as Liverpool鈥檚 stand-in goalkeeper Adrian turned over Nathan Ake鈥檚 powerful header.

Bournemouth played a large part in their own downfall and settled Liverpool鈥檚 nerves when substitute Jack Simpson gifted possession to Mane in a dangerous position. Despite a poor pass from the Senegalese, Salah steered the ball into the bottom corner to mark his 100th Premier League appearance for the club in style.

Eight minutes later, Liverpool led when Bournemouth again gave the ball away cheaply. Virgil van Dijk released Mane in behind and he kept his cool to slot into the far corner.

鈥淭he two goals come from us having possession and they punished us on the transition,鈥� said Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe. 鈥淚t was a ruthless game for us today because I don鈥檛 think we did much wrong in the game.鈥�

The champions-elect still needed a brilliant clearance from James Milner to secure all three points as he sprinted back to clear Ryan Fraser鈥檚 lob over the stranded Adrian on the hour mark, which earned him man-of-the-match.

鈥淢illie changed the fortunes, hopefully,鈥� said Klopp, whose side could even be crowned champions before they play in the league again if Manchester City were to lose against Manchester United, Arsenal and Burnley in the next week.