Sunderland vs Liverpool: Georginio Wijnaldum urges Reds to turn up heat on leaders Chelsea
Kop go to struggling Sunderland knowing a win will put them three points behind Antonio Conte’s men
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GEORGINIO WIJNALDUM has urged Liverpool to turn up the heat on leaders Chelsea today.
The Kop go to struggling Sunderland knowing a win will put them three points behind Antonio Conte’s men.
That would give the Blues something to chew on as they go into their London derby against Tottenham on Wednesday night looking to set a new Premier League record of 14 consecutive wins in a single season.
‘Gigi’ Wijnaldum, who headed Liverpool’s winner in Saturday night’s 1-0 defeat of Manchester City, said: “Of course you always put pressure on an opponent. We just have to win the game.
“Chelsea are flying right now and doing great, but we have to focus on our own game and we will see if we come closer.
“The main thing is to keep doing what we are doing now, win our own games and not look at Chelsea because we don’t control that performance.
“We can go far but we have to show it game by game.
“It is going well now but we don’t know how it will be going in two months so we must make sure we go all the time.
“Sunderland’s a tough game as they also want to win because of the threat of relegation.”
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Boss Jurgen Klopp says there is no pressure on him to win the title this year as the Reds finished way back in eighth last season — 21 points behind shock winners Leicester.
That ignores the fact Chelsea finished ten points and two places below them.
And while Liverpool head to the Stadium of Light second in the table and on a four-match winning run, Klopp insisted: “We came from eighth position last year so we don’t think about being champion this year.
“But we are much better than last year and the position is completely different. We’re fine.
“We are where we are and if it ends there, then cool. If we are still there five matches before the end, and are only a few points behind, then we will think about something else but not in this moment.”
Midfielder Wijnaldum said he would be happy to see fellow Dutchman Quincy Promes join him at Anfield to help with the title battle — especially with Sadio Mane set to head for the African Nations Cup.
Spartak Moscow attacker Promes, 24, has been linked with a switch to Merseyside during the current window.
The Holland international has been Spartak’s top scorer for the past two seasons, netting a total of 37 goals in 72 appearances.
And Wijnaldum, 26, said: “I want him to come to Liverpool because I know he is a good player and also a good person who can help the team.
“He will know how great Liverpool is. I don’t know if everything is true about what they say as I don’t speak with him about that.”
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