Jurgen Klopp makes ‘joke’ Newcastle United comment ahead of Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes Champions League-chasing Newcastle United are ‘in a very good moment’ - but thought someone was joking when he discovered the Magpies were 5-0 up after 20 minutes in their recent win against Tottenham Hotspur.

Eddie Howe’s men went into last weekend’s home clash with their top four rivals looking to boost their hopes of returning to European football’s elite for the first time in 20 years and move on from an underwhelming performance in their previous game when they fell to a 3-0 defeat at Aston Villa.

United showed no signs of lacking in confidence or belief as Jacob Murphy and Alexander Isak both scored twice and Joelinton also found the net to give their side a five-goal lead by the time the midway point of the first-half had been reached at a jubilant St James Park.

Harry Kane temporarily reduced the arrears after half-time but Magpies substitute Callum Wilson rounded off the scoring when he fired home from close range with just over 20 minutes remaining. The win set up Howe’s men for another impressive display as they claimed a 4-1 victory at Everton on Thursday night to give themselves an eight-point lead over fifth placed Spurs and remain in third place in the Premier League table ahead of this weekend’s fixtures.

Klopp praised the Magpies for their display against a Spurs side that will visit Liverpool on Sunday afternoon on what will be another potentially pivotal day in the race for European places.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, the Reds boss said: “The Newcastle game (against Spurs), I came home, switched the TV on and it was 1-0, I had something else to do and wanted to watch the game later, I came back and it was 5-0! I honestly thought there was something wrong with the screen, like someone had made a joke or something like that. I had to watch it back later.

“Newcastle is in a very good moment, you saw that (against Everton), individuals are really shining, full of confidence, so these kinds of things can happen. And then it was a normal game after that and it ended 1-1. So I never could in my life think like that, to find for yourself the right attitude in the game then you have to think the opponent is really strong. And they are strong.”

Newcastle are back in action on Sunday afternoon when bottom of the table Southampton travel to St James Park in what will be the fourth meeting of the two sides this season.