For all of the positivity generated by Liverpool's current position in the Premier League, Loris Karius insists nobody at the club is looking too far ahead.

The goalkeeper achieved a second successive clean sheet on Saturday afternoon as the Reds eventually overcame a resilient Sunderland side 2-0 at Anfield.

It was a ninth win in 13 league matches this term for Jürgen Klopp’s team, who remain a point behind early leaders Chelsea in the table.

The encouraging start has inevitably caused a surge of optimism among fans for what could be achieved in the rest of the campaign – and the feeling is shared by the squad.

But the players are equally well aware of the competition within the division and will therefore be focusing firmly on their jobs, according to Karius.

“It still feels like it’s a very long way away,” said the German. “There are a lot of games to play. We can’t look that far ahead.

“Of course it feels good for the whole team when you look at the table every week and you stay up there.

“I think this season is going to be very close. There are very good teams at the top so we need to focus and keep on going.

“The clean sheets are a good feeling for everyone. We are staying concentrated for the full 90 minutes. I wouldn’t mind a third in a row next weekend.”

And reflecting on the battle to beat Sunderland, the ‘keeper added: “We knew that Sunderland were in their best form of the season. They had won their last two games so they had some confidence.

“They didn’t make it easy for us in the first half but in the 15 minutes before half-time we started to create more.

“Our plan was to keep that going and step it up even more in the second half. We did that and I think it was just a question of when the goal was going to come.

“At times Sunderland looked dangerous. We had to be aware of their counter-attacks. Defensively and offensively at the moment, we’re in a really good flow.

“We tried everything to score at Southampton but couldn’t. Maybe a lot of people thought it was going to be the same against Sunderland but we kept believing in ourselves.

“It’s not easy to score when opponents sit so deep. There always seemed to be someone there to block the shot.”