Dejan Lovren: We're not celebrating yet
Dejan Lovren insisted Liverpool's position as Premier League leaders for Christmas will not distract the team from the challenges ahead.
The Reds consolidated their spot at the summit with another impressive win on Friday night, this time defeating Wolverhampton Wanderers through goals from Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.
Jürgen Klopp’s men remain unbeaten in 18 league games this season but must quickly recover for three matches in quick succession over the festive period.
Newcastle United and Arsenal visit Anfield next week before a showdown with reigning champions Manchester City at Etihad Stadium in early January.
“We maybe have a better schedule than last year, we have time to recover and we have quite a big squad,” Lovren told Liverpoolfc.com at Molineux.
“People from the bench came on and got into our rhythm, which is quite important for us. [But] it’s no time to celebrate or anything. We have Newcastle next on Wednesday, so let’s keep this momentum and keep it going game by game.”
In his post-match assessments, Klopp praised the maturity Liverpool showed in dealing with a Wolves side who tested the visitors for periods of a keenly-fought encounter.
The Reds stood firm in the face of mounting pressure before the interval, for example, which allowed Van Dijk to provide a cushion midway through the second half.
Watch: Extended highlights of the win over Wolves
Lovren felt the manner of the performance was more evidence of the team’s ability to manage and dictate the rhythm of games to their own needs.
“It was a tough game but we showed our quality and our experience,” the No.6 said.
“I’m sure if we had played a couple of seasons ago here we would have struggled. We have learned from these previous seasons how to play these difficult games and we did it quite well.
“In some difficult times we kept the ball and sometimes we showed, like the boss said, this matureness and this readiness again when we lose the ball to be there and to stay hungry to the end of the game because we know what we are playing for. It’s the three points and this is all that matters.
“It wasn’t an easy pitch with the rain and everything but again we showed the quality, everyone was believing and everyone was ready from the beginning. It was, trust me, a big three points.”