Lovren ‘positive’ but plays down Liverpool title talk

Ian Watson

Dejan Lovren insists it is too early to consider Liverpool as Premier League title contenders despite their impressive start to the season.

The Croatia defender scored his first league goal for the Reds in Friday night’s 2-1 win at Chelsea, with captain Jordan Henderson thrashing home a superb second as Jurgen Klopp’s side dominated the first half at Stamford Bridge.

Diego Costa pulled a goal back for the hosts after the interval but Liverpool saw out the remainder of the contest to record another positive result.

With work to improve Anfield running into the start of the campaign, Liverpool have played just once at home so far and have already visited Arsenal, Tottenham and now Chelsea.

A win at Arsenal on the opening day was followed up with a fighting point at Spurs, before a 4-1 thrashing of champions Leicester and then Friday’s win in west London.

Only a surprise defeat at Burnley blots Liverpool’s early record but Lovren believes talk of a first league title in 27 years is premature.

Dejan Lovren

Asked about a potential title challenge, Lovren told the club’s official website: “It’s too early to talk about that but we are positive and we can keep playing well.

“We have so many players here on the bench that can make a difference, we have a brilliant squad, the 25 players here, even those in the stand are top players.

“It’s a challenge for all of us to be 100 per cent in training and that’s what keeps us improving every day.”

Despite their tough start, Liverpool have already notched 11 goals, including four against both Arsenal and Leicester, and Lovren says the team is set-up to attack.

“We know what we need to do when we come to away games, especially against big teams like Chelsea,” he added.

“We are a team who wants to play, who wants to win – we are not a team who will defend deep and await our chances.

“It’s always the same speech (from Klopp), always positive. We need to keep working hard. We’ve had a great week in training so everyone was positive.

“Of course I’m always happy to score but I’m more happy with the performance of the team, I think we played brilliantly, especially in the first half. We controlled our football.”