Liverpool cannot take foot off the gas, says Lallana

Liverpool cannot afford to take their foot off the gas in pursuit of a maiden Premier League title, according to midfielder Adam Lallana.

Jurgen Klopp’s side restored their 13-point lead at the top of the table, with a game in hand still to play, courtesy of a slender 1-0 win over Wolves at Anfield on Sunday.

Sadio Mane scored the only goal of the game, the 42nd-minute strike awarded by the Video Assistant Referee after match official Anthony Taylor initially blew for handball against Lallana in the build-up.

Wolves then had a goal ruled out by VAR for a marginal offside against Jonny after Pedro Neto had fired home, while Diogo Jota had two good chances to score in the second half.

Lallana conceded Liverpool had to ride their luck to pick up a 10th league win in a row and has urged his team-mates to not become complacent.

Liverpool end 2019 having earned 98pts from 37 #PL matches

Their ratio of 2.65 points per game is the second-highest ever achieved by a team in a single year in the competition, behind only Chelsea’s 2.66 in 2005 pic.twitter.com/0KydjsYgER

— Premier League (@premierleague) December 29, 2019

“It was a massive three points, a gritty three points at times,” he told Liverpool’s official website.

“We’ll look back when we analyse the game and we can do better, we can improve better mentally and physically. I think we can make life easier for us, keep the ball better.

“But that’s the attitude we want to have. We don’t want to just win and think, ‘Ah, we got away with that’.  I think we can be better and I think it’s important we have that attitude moving forward.

“We can’t take our foot off the gas. We’ve got a couple of huge games at home in the next week – Sheffield United, who have had a fantastic season, and then the derby in the cup. 

“It’s important we recover because we’ve had a few injuries and it’s important that we get everybody back fit as quickly as possible. We want to maintain that form going into the New Year and keep Anfield a fortress.”

50 @premierleague games unbeaten at Anfield  pic.twitter.com/ke4n9BgVyy

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 29, 2019

Lallana made just his third league start of the season in the win over Wolves, coming into the side as the only change from the 4-0 win at Leicester City on Boxing Day.

And with youngsters Neco Williams, Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones among the subs, Lallana talked up the importance of everyone chipping in over the coming weeks.

“It’s a squad game and I’ve said before that we’re going to need everybody,” he said.

“We’ve got a few injuries at the time being and three or four kids on the bench – it’s a great experience for them being involved and so close to what’s been a special season so far.”