Adam Lallana calls on Liverpool to be "relentless" - and reveals key reason for their success this season
Adam Lallana believes Liverpool's superb season is down to the squad's "great mentality".
The Reds are 14 points clear in the Premier League title race after a 1-0 victory over Tottenham on Saturday.
Jurgen Klopp's side have now won 20 of their first 21 top-flight games this season, which is a superior record to any other team in the history of Europe's top five leagues.
And Lallana has called on his team-mates to maintain their current pace as Liverpool target a first title since 1990.
“It’s on us to keep grounded,” he said. “We have such a great group of lads for that.
“We’ve come back in there and after the game we are speaking about how we could have seen it out better. I’m sure it was entertaining for the neutral but we don’t want to be winning games relying on our keeper or seeing shots go past the post.
“It’s a great mentality that we have, we don’t want to settle for just winning games. That’s a big reason why we are in the position we are. We want to be relentless.
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“There is always room for improvement, and even [against Spurs] we could have controlled the game better.
“Maybe we were a little bit surprised at how much time we had on the ball, but it’s about keeping the ball better, manipulating the ball and seeing games out better if we want to improve and keep this unbeaten run going.
“Teams are going to adapt their philosophies to play against us, and we have to try and counter that and see games out better.”
Lallana entered the fray in place of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 61st minute of Saturday's clash.
"It was eventful when I came on,” he added. “I think I calmed it down for the first 10 minutes, and then the last 20 minutes it was ‘do we go for the second goal or keep possession?’
“We had all this time on the ball and we maybe dwelt on it too much at times and caused our own problems. But that’s what I say, we can always improve more. We don’t ever want to be complacent, and it’s good to look back and see places you can improve. That’s a good mentality to have.”
Liverpool will host arch-rivals Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.
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Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).