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Jurgen Klopp has heard it often enough.

Jose Mourinho never wastes an opportunity to state that Klopp has to start winning silverware with Liverpool in order to justify his transfer outlay.

“I think trophies matter,” the Manchester United boss said in the build up to Sunday's showdown at Anfield.

With the Reds top of the Premier League table after the best start to a season in the club's history and safely into the last 16 of the Champions League, hopes are high that glory will indeed follow after the agonising near misses of recent years.

But Klopp has no time for suggestions that anything less will constitute failure come May.

“Do I have to? Do I have to win it?” Klopp said.

“People might remember that but what I have to do is make the best of the things the club is offering me – that is what I believe in.

“If people say the Champions League campaign last season was not a success because we didn’t win the final then I cannot change that. Was it the successful finish? No, but the ride was brilliant.

“I enjoyed it a lot. Going to the final was fantastic but in life – in all departments of life including your job – if only the best counts and effort doesn’t count then life is s***.

“You can do whatever you want but if I’m not as smart as Einstein or whatever, I can’t try a little bit? I will never be him.

“I love the challenge. Make the best of it. That is how I understand life, I learned it a little bit in football. In the end other people have to judge that.”

Liverpool have made a flying start to a crucial month. League wins over Everton, Burnley and Bournemouth were followed by a precious European triumph over Napoli in midweek.

Expectations are sky-high but Klopp insist his players can handle it.

This is what Klopp had to say on the fixture

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“Pressure to deliver good performances? Yes, but that is a pressure we put on ourselves,” he said.

“In a competition you have to accept that other teams can do a lot right as well. If you only love the game if you win at the end - that means if you are first in the table - then that means that all the others have to stop loving it.

“You have to accept that you lose. The pressure is there and has always been there because we know that we have to deliver. We are not somebody, we are Liverpool.

“We have really good players. They are already really good but they can still make next steps and that is what we have to do – to deal with the situation.

“The pressure in a sense is from outside, people saying if I don’t win silverware then I have to leave. In the moment you find someone who can do the job better you have to take him.

You can read everything Klopp said about United in the build-up to the game HERE

“As long as there is not, you have to trust the guy in the chair 100%. It doesn’t work the other way around. We feel we are really the right combination 100% – with the club, with all the people.

“We spoke about that weeks, months ago that we feel in a good situation and it hasn’t changed. So far we have used it really well.

“We had a difficult situation on Tuesday night. Everybody expected us to win against Napoli but watch Napoli – when did they last lose?

“They lost against Juve and had a few draws – that is it over the year. The rest they win. They are brilliant. We had to win a game like this and the boys dealt with it in a positive manner.

“It was a really good sign, I really loved it but it doesn’t mean from now on we will do it exactly the same way. it just means we are capable of doing it.”

(Image: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

A year ago this weekend Liverpool found themselves a massive 18 points adrift of runaway leaders Manchester City after dull draws with Everton and West Brom.

The manager confessed at the time that second place was realistically the limit of the Reds' ambitions.

Since then progress has been stark. Klopp's unbeaten side have dropped just six points all season and lead the way after City's defeat to Chelsea last weekend.

“That's actually the job to do. As long as the progress you make is obvious then things are good,” Klopp said.

“We needed progress. We always tried to make the best of the situations we were in.

“We did that last season - finishing fourth and getting to the Champions League final. The year before no final but top four, the year before eighth in the table and the Europa League final. That's it.

“We keep trying. Nobody knows in this moment (about this season). We have come so far and the only things we could reach at this stage we have reached with the points and the position we have and being in the last 16 of the Champions League.

“We're out of the League Cup because we had a 'nice' draw getting Chelsea. Now we've got a very difficult draw in the FA Cup. That's all that we are going for.

“In this moment it's okay but we don't feel it. We had another outstanding night together against Napoli. I was really proud but now it's already three days ago and we come into the mood to play United.

“Sunday is only about United, not about where we go this season or stuff like that. It's about the next three points.”

The last time Liverpool mounted a title challenge in 2013/14 it proved to be a thrilling but ultimately heartbreaking one off. They quickly slipped back into the chasing pack.

This time it feels different under Klopp. The past three years have been a story of gradual improvement.

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“The club, the team, the size of the fanbase, the manager as a combination, we should be successful. Just how successful we don't know because there's only one spot,” Klopp continued.

“You can do pretty much everything right but in the end one team can do a bit more right and you don't get it. But we don't think about that in this moment.

“If you want to talk to me about how it felt three or four years ago, the outside view was that it was a completely different club.

“Brendan (Rodgers) did a fantastic job and in the last few years we have tried to improve everything. We built a new stand, we are building a new training ground. We don't need a new training ground today but we are building it for the future.

“The level we're at now is only the basis for this club to go again. For that we need good footballers and we've got that in this moment. A few less since last week but still a lot. We have to try everything we can to be successful.”

James Pearce reacts to Klopp's pre-United press conference

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In an attempt to deflect attention away from United's struggles, Mourinho has frequently bemoaned the amount of money Klopp has spent to strengthen his squad.

Mourinho conveniently overlooks the fact that he has a net spend of £307million since he took over at Old Trafford in the summer of 2016 compared to Klopp's £121million over the same period. The two managers have actually spent similar amounts.

On Friday the Portuguese coach talked about how Klopp had got "the house ready" at Liverpool before buying "the best possible furniture".

Told about Mourinho's comments, Klopp joked: "My wife is responsible for buying our furniture! I only live there."

But the message was clear: there is so much more to what Klopp has created at Liverpool than bumper transfer fees. It's down to wise recruitment and player development.

"We are fine, we are happy with what we did," Klopp added.

"Since I've been in we've brought in fantastic players and we've kept fantastic players. A lot of players have signed new contracts and we are absolutely happy with that.

"The new ones have settled in pretty well so it's all cool. We can talk about Man City and think okay they really spent a lot of money in the last couple of years but you can do silly things with money and they didn't unfortunately.

"They have made a strong squad, we have a strong squad and United have a strong squad - that makes the competition."