Reds relishing records chase

LIVERPOOL－They walked out to another guard of honor, with a huge rectangular banner high up in the Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand reading: "Liverpool FC－Champions Again".

Liverpool's players were back home at Anfield for the first time since winning a first English league title since 1990.

It was a triumphant return, too.

Lacking the intensity and precision that brought the team the title in devastating fashion, Liverpool still managed to eke out a 2-0 win over Aston Villa to move in sight of a slew of records to cap one of the best ever top-flight campaigns.

Second-half goals by Sadio Mane and Curtis Jones secured a 17th straight win at Anfield, with just two more needed－against Burnley and Chelsea－to complete a 100 percent home record that would be unprecedented in the Premier League. Four wins from the last five matches and Liverpool will also pass Manchester City's record from 2017-18 of 100 points in one season.

Klopp said Liverpool's ability to grind out wins when not at its best has been a hallmark of the champion this season.

"We are where we are because we win difficult games," said Klopp.

"Today Aston Villa was fighting with all they had and it makes life uncomfortable. It was not a brilliant performance but it was a good performance that gets us three points."

Klopp has insisted he will not dish out appearances "like Christmas presents" in the final month of the campaign as his side eyes a record English top-flight points tally.

Liverpool moved onto 89 points with a further 15 still up for grabs to beat City's record of 100 from two seasons ago.

In front of an empty Anfield, the host struggled to summon its best with the big prize already won and just rewriting the record books to play for.

Not that Jurgen Klopp is necessarily counting.

"The only thing I can say," the Liverpool manager said, "is there's no chance to win records if you constantly think about records.

"We don't want records. We want the three points."

That's something Liverpool almost always manages to obtain, however it plays.

Eager to rebound from a 4-0 loss at City on Thursday where the Reds' attitude was widely questioned, Klopp's players were again not at their best without the backing of their fans.

But they eventually ground Villa down with their trademark resilience and relentlessness.

Mane swept home a finish off the underside of the crossbar in the 71st minute for his 16th league goal of the season before Jones converted from 10 meters out in the 89th after a nod-down from Mo Salah for the teenager's first Premier League goal.

"Jurgen Klopp teams don't take their foot off the gas," Villa manager Dean Smith said, acknowledging the impact made by Liverpool's three 60th-minute substitutes－Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum and Roberto Firmino.

Villa, by contrast, is still desperate for points in its battle to beat the drop and Smith's men were left to rue not taking their chances on the counter-attack early in the second half as the Birmingham club's winless streak stretched to 10 games.

"I don't want to be a valiant loser because we are running out of games," said Smith.

"To outshoot Liverpool at home at Anfield in terms of efforts on goal is excellent, but we need to take our opportunities. We never found the quality in the final third they did."

Pepe Reina was recalled in the Villa goal on his return to Anfield where he spent nine years as a Liverpool player, but the Spaniard barely had a save of note to make before halftime as Liverpool struggled to break down Villa.

Indeed, it was Alisson who was the busier goalkeeper as the Brazilian was forced to parry shots from Douglas Luiz, Jack Grealish and Anwar El Ghazi.

The triple substitution of Henderson, Wijnaldum and Firmino quickly made a difference when Naby Keita picked out Mane to fire home.

"I didn't thank him for bringing the three subs on," added Smith. "That strengthened them."

Reina was finally forced into a fine save as he dived to his left to deny Firmino.

Another substitute made the game safe a minute from time as 19-year-old Jones saw his effort deflect past the helpless Reina before Alisson produced another stunning save at the other end to deny Grealish a consolation.

AFP/AP