Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool showed 'big passion' to beat Man City

Jurgen Klopp thinks the secret behind Liverpool’s 4-1 thrashing of Manchester City was that his team played with "big passion".

The Reds boss sent out his side with a clear message to attack and they raced into a 3-0 lead inside 31 minutes with goals from Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and an Eliaquim Mangala own goal.

A returning Sergio Aguero reduced the deficit before half-time but Liverpool, who missed a host of glorious opportunities, finally made the game safe with 10 minutes remaining thanks to a fantastic Martin Skrtel half-volley.

Liverpool are unbeaten away from home under Klopp and have already registered victories at City, Rubin Kazan and Chelsea.

"It was far from perfect, but it was very, very good," said Klopp.

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"We didn't defend as well as we can but we took our chances. They were brilliant counter attack goals. One goal can change a game.

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"At half-time Man City made two changes and it's difficult to stay in the game with this quality of opponent but we did it with big passion and that's important.

It's a big step. Very important for the table - we're on 20 points now. It's a good day for us.

"You can't win a game against a team like Man City without passion. We tried to close the spaces where they want to play and we pressed high. The crowd was a bit nervous when they couldn't build up their game like they want. That's the first step in a game and we did it."

The result lifts Liverpool into ninth place in the Premier League but they remain six points adrift of a Champions League place.

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Klopp believes his players will have taken plenty of confidence from this victory as they look to improve their poor form at Anfield that only yielded eight points from a possible 18.

He said: "It's a big step. Very important for the table - we're on 20 points now. It's a good day for us.

"My players were a little bit surprised at half-time that they were 3-0 in the lead....but with results like this the boys will start to believe in themselves and that's very important."

Coutinho pulled up with what appeared a muscular problem midway through the second half but Klopp played down the injury in his post-match press conference.

"He showed not a real [injury], it was a little bit of cramp, he felt something," Klopp said.

"I hope that's all, he will be very important for us, everybody can see he's in really good shape in this moment. I hope he can react well enough."