Klopp laughs off 'Inevitables' tag after Wolves win stretches Premier League lead

Jurgen Klopp has laughed off the suggestion Liverpool are now certain to win the Premier League following Thursday's triumph over Wolves.

A late strike from Roberto Firmino secured a 2-1 win at Molineux, giving the Reds 22 victories from 23 league games this season and stretching their lead at the top to 16 points with a game in hand.

Liverpool have now gone 40 league games without defeat and appear firmly on course to end their 30-year wait for a top-flight title.

Klopp, however, remains insistent his team cannot take anything for granted in the final months of the season.

When asked about Liverpool becoming the so-called 'Inevitables', he told reporters on Friday: "In four and a half years in this country, I think I've never heard that word before. I have no clue what you're talking about.

"We couldn't care less about these sorts of things. I think, in this moment, we are not even mathematically qualified for the Champions League next year, so the only thing you can do is focus on the next football game.

"That's Shrewsbury [Town, in the FA Cup], then West Ham, then Southampton, then we have a week off, and then we start again. That's the plan. I don't know another plan.

"So, whatever you say about us... if it's positive, thank you very much; if it's negative, I don't care. That's it, pretty much. I cannot change the situation. I've never heard of anything being decided before it's decided, so why should we think about these kinds of things?

"The game [against Wolves] is a very, very good example for our kind of situation. It was never easy, was never going to be easy, and we just have to fight as much as we can. That's what the boys did, that's why we won the game, so that's the only thing we can do and it's the only thing we're focused on."

Liverpool face Shrewsbury away in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday before a league trip to West Ham next Wednesday.

They then host Southampton on February 1 and are then due to have two weeks off before travelling to Norwich City.