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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has refused to give up on the title race despite his team's defeat to Everton at Goodison Park on Wednesday, saying he is in "no mood" to concede the league yet ahead of the trip to West Ham on Saturday.
The Merseyside derby loss, combined with Arsenal and Manchester City's comfortable wins over Chelsea and Brighton respectively, has left Liverpool third in the Premier League table and requiring both teams to drop points in their final few league games.
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Asked at his Friday news conference how he would assess his team's campaign, Klopp answered: "I would not assess it now. I'm not in the mood to give up, to wave the white flag. We just have to look after ourselves and make sure we play better."
Despite that stoicism, Klopp had earlier in the news conference admitted that Liverpool's title rivals had likely ceased to see his team as a threat.
"I'm pretty sure Arsenal and City see it as a two-horse race, even if they say something else publicly.
Jurgen Klopp admitted he had rarely felt so bad after a game as he did following the defeat to Everton. Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
"I don't think it will happen [the teams dropping points] but if it happens then we should be there and we have to win our football games. Nobody gave up here, we just need to be realistic."
Klopp was also asked about the comments made by his potential successor, Feyenoord boss Arne Slot. Klopp announced in January that he is to leave at the end of the season after nearly nine years at the club
Slot said before his team's Eredivisie win against Go Ahead Eagles that he wants to take the Liverpool job and expects a resolution to negotiations between the two clubs in "the coming days."
"I didn't read anything but someone told me that Arne said something -- I don't know anything about it, not involved in the process, just to clarify that.
"What I like a lot about it in the first moment, if he is the one, is that he wants to take the job.
"I like the way his team play football. All the things I heard about him as a guy, a good guy, some people I know know him, I don't know him yet, but some people tell me that he's a really good guy and I like that a lot.
"Good coach, good guy -- looking forward for the club if he is the solution."
Klopp also gave an update on the fitness of full-back Conor Bradley and forward Diogo Jota, saying that neither has returned to training yet and they will both be unavailable for the West Ham game.
Source: espn.co.uk