Jurgen Klopp never thought Liverpool can equal Man City's record

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said that he never thought his team could equal Manchester City's previous record of 18 consecutive Premier League victories.

The league leaders won 3-2 against West Ham United at Anfield on Monday. In the process, they equalled City's rare Premier League record.

In 2017, between August and December, Manchester City won 18 straight matches.

The Reds' manager said, "It's so special. The numbers are incredible, so difficult. I said we wanted to write our own stories, create our own history. Obviously, the boys took that really seriously and that is all cool but just not too important at the moment. We are just in the situation and want to recover and prepare for the next game."

Interestingly, Liverpool last dropped Premier League points when they drew 1-1 with Manchester United on October 20, 2019. Their latest victory over West Ham means that the defending UEFA Champions League title holders are now even closer to their first League title in 30 years.

West Ham fought hard but the visitors lost the match, 3-2. Georginio Wijnaldum opened the scoresheet in the 9th minute and took Liverpool ahead. But West Ham's Issa Diop scored an equaliser soon after.

Nine minutes into the second half, the visitors went ahead courtesy of Pablo Fornals' strike. Just when it was seeming like the Reds are in for an upset against a side that's lurking in the relegation zone, Egyptian legend Mohamed Salah scored the second goal for the home side in the 68th minute. At that time, the scorecard was showing 2-2. It was Sadio Mane's strike in the 81st minute that ensured a consecutive 18th Premier League victory for the Reds.

Their latest victory means that Liverpool is now 22 points clear of the defending champions, Manchester City, at the top of the league table.

Liverpool has now won their last 21 Premier League home games, and equalled their own record that was set between January and December 1972 under the leadership of Bill Shankly.

Klopp's side has an opportunity to end this season's league with 112 points to their name. Interestingly, no title-winning team has ever achieved such a feat in England.