Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool cannot focus on breaking records after the Premier League champions made it 17 wins from 17 home games this season by beating Aston Villa. The Reds moved on to 89 points after second-half goals from Sadio Mane and Curtis Jones secured a 2-0 win. Liverpool need 12 points from the last five games to beat Manchester City’s record of 100 points in a season. “We’ve always focused on the game and that won’t change,” said Klopp. “We didn’t come here and have the numbers we have because we thought about breaking records. “Hopefully in the future, when the record ends or the season ends, I can start thinking about it. “If we can do something special it is great but we really don’t think too much about it.” As well as breaking the record for most points in a season, Liverpool can also match Sunderland’s 128-year-old record of winning every home league game in a season. They have won 17 out of 17 in 2019-20 and 24 in a row in total - a run stretching back to a 1-1 draw with Leicester in January 2019. This was Liverpool’s first game at Anfield since becoming Premier League champions and the win ensured they bounced back after being beaten 4-0 by Manchester City on Thursday. However, they were far from their best with the opening goal coming from just their second shot on target, Mane lashing Naby Keita’s cross in via the underside of the crossbar. Until then Villa had looked like earning a precious and unexpected point and had even had chances to go ahead themselves, with Alisson parrying away Anwar el Ghazi’s fierce shot early in the second half. Mane’s strike clearly deflated the visitors and they fell further behind just before full-time when Jones celebrated signing a new long-term deal by volleying home his first Premier League goal. Klopp added: “Aston Villa were fighting with all they had and it makes life uncomfortable. “I like it, it was not a brilliant performance but it was a good performance that gets us three points.” Defeat for Villa means they remain in the relegation zone in 18th, one point adrift of safety and still searching for their first win since the Premier League restarted. This was a welcome return to winning ways for Liverpool in their first Anfield game since a first league title win in 30 years was confirmed. After the thrashing at Etihad Stadium, boss Jurgen Klopp said that his side had not lost any focus after achieving their main objective, but they were distinctly below par in a scrappy opening half against Villa. After being given a guard of honour by the visitors before kick-off, Liverpool struggled to get into any sort of rhythm and did not register a first shot on target until shortly before half-time when Mane’s snapshot was comfortably saved by former Reds keeper Pepe Reina. That was only their second attempt on goal - the first time in almost two years that the Reds had managed just two shots in the first half of a Premier League game. Roberto Firmino, left on the bench as Klopp rotated his squad, came on just after the hour and only then did the hosts really start to look like their old selves. In the end Liverpool, as champions do, got the job done. It was not an encounter that will live long in the memory but it keeps Klopp’s side on course to add a couple more records to an already incredible season. Villa show fight, but need the points It has been a tough return to Premier League action for Aston Villa as they look to avoid dropping straight back into the Championship. Dean Smith’s side have now lost three of their five games since the restart, drawing the other two, but while they have arguably got what they deserved in some of the previous fixtures, they can count themselves unfortunate not to have secured what would have been a hard-fought point at Anfield. For well over an hour Villa went toe-to-toe with the champions. They were strong and disciplined in defence and looked lively in attack, particularly on the counter. But, as is so often the case in recent games, Villa were unable to make the most of the few opportunities that came their way and once Liverpool went ahead, a 10th game without a win looked a formality. Villa’s performance should give them heart but time is rapidly running out for them to pick up the points they need to survive. They are only a win away from climbing out of the bottom three but with tough fixtures against in-form Manchester United and Arsenal to come, they need to find a way to make the most of the few chances that come their way. “I don’t want to be a valiant loser, we’re scrapping for points,” Villa boss Smith said. “To out-shoot Liverpool at home at Anfield, in terms of efforts on goal, it’s excellent - but we need to take our opportunities. We never found the quality in the final third they did.” ---- *The Guardian* *Sunday, 5 July 2020* Sadio Mané gets Liverpool back on track against wasteful Aston Villa The headline figures will come as no surprise. Liverpool maintained their 100% home record in the Premier League at the expense of a relegation-threatened team that have not kept a clean sheet on the road all season. Scratch below, however, and this was a precious opportunity lost for Aston Villa. Jürgen Klopp’s new Premier League champions were in procession mode once again, not to the extent of Thursday’s drubbing at Manchester City but enough to encourage any ruthless and solid team seeking a desperately needed point or three. Villa did not have it in them to capitalise. Dean Smith’s side had their moments on the counterattack and defended comfortably for 71 minutes. Not enough. Sadio Mané punished Villa’s first lapse in concentration to reach the 20-goal mark for the third season in succession in a Liverpool shirt. Curtis Jones, the day after signing a new long-term contract with his boyhood club, came off the bench to score his first Premier League goal and Liverpool had made it 17 wins from 17 home games in the competition, with the handbrake on. No team has recorded a flawless home run across a whole top-flight campaign in the Premier League era and Liverpool are just two wins – against Burnley and Chelsea – from adding that feat to this season’s roll of honour. Sunderland were the last team to finish a top-flight campaign with a 100% home record in England. That was in 1891-92. “We don’t have these numbers because we think about records but because we focus 100% on the game,” said Klopp. “Hopefully that doesn’t change. When it ends we can think about.” Liverpool were improved by a procession of high-class substitutes. Villa did not have that luxury and the point was not lost on their manager. “It definitely had an impact,” said Smith, who saw Jordan Henderson, Roberto Firmino and Georginio Wijnaldum come off the bench to lift the champions before Jones entered the fray. “I said that when the [five substitutions] rule was put forward, I think by Chelsea. I felt we shouldn’t change the rules during the season and it was going to benefit the bigger and healthier squads.” Klopp concurred: “It was easier with fresher legs against a team that had been really busy until then.” Villa’s players, substitutes, coaching staff and even the match officials formed a guard of honour to welcome Liverpool on their first appearance at Anfield since being crowned champions. The last time Liverpool had started a game here as league champions was 1 May 1990, a 1-0 defeat of Derby County that proved to be Kenny Dalglish’s final appearance for the club. Dalglish was among the few present for the 2019-20 title winners’ return home, sat without company in the directors’ box and facing the stand that now bears his name. A banner proclaiming “Liverpool FC – Champions Again” was stretched across the seats in the upper tier of the Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand. But this was not a feast fit for a king. Liverpool’s first-half performance lacked the zip, conviction and aggression that have shaped their dominance of the Premier League field this season. Villa were untroubled and lively down the flanks through Mahmoud Trezeguet and Anwar El Ghazi, but short of the creativity required to take full advantage of a Liverpool side performing in bottom gear. Mercifully a game broke out in the second half. Liverpool’s full-backs began to find their range while Villa, with Jack Grealish increasingly prominent, countered with several promising attacks of their own. The visiting captain instigated a breakaway that ended with Alisson pushing away El Ghazi’s first-time shot towards his near post. From the resulting corner Tyrone Mings headed dangerously across the Liverpool goalmouth but Divock Origi hooked clear. Virgil van Dijk then stood in the way of Grealish’s attempt to beat Alisson following another threatening counterattack. Villa’s chances were not gilt-edged but a more ruthless team would have punished Liverpool. They also had cause to regret a rare lapse in defence when Mané opened the scoring with his 50th Anfield goal for Liverpool. Smith will have good reason to question the space available inside Villa’s area when Trent Alexander-Arnold strolled forward and picked out Naby Keïta. The midfielder was completely unmarked and, with Villa defenders slow to react, had time to control and size up his options. He threaded a pass into the path of Mané and Pepe Reina was powerless to prevent the Senegal forward scoring via the underside of the crossbar. Jones started the move that led to his first league goal and Liverpool’s second. Henderson took over and found Andy Robertson, whose deep cross was headed down at the back post by Mohamed Salah for the academy graduate to beat Reina with a half-volley that took a slight deflection off Mings en route to goal. “We deserve more points than we’ve got since the restart,” said Smith. “But I don’t want to be a valiant loser because we haven’t got time.”