Liverpool: Liverpool were locked in on their task at hand long before confirmation of the Premier League’s restart date, centre-half Dejan Lovren has insisted.
The Reds are set to resume top-flight action on June 21 against Everton after the division’s suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With Jurgen Klopp’s side two wins away from sealing the title, Lovren and his teammates have had their eyes on the prize all throughout their time away from the pitch.
“To be honest, even without a date at the beginning, our main focus and goal was, ‘Guys, let’s finish the season. There will, of course, be a date back, but just stay in shape, be in shape when we come back. We will do it and then we can say well done’,” Lovren said. “That was our main focus from the beginning. “Of course we still have two games (to win until) we can say, ‘Yeah, we are the champions’ but our main focus is to win all the games. That’s the main target,” he added.
Liverpool have been back training at Melwood since May 20 and Lovren believes the dedication of the entire squad to maintain fitness during the suspension tells its own story about the collective desire to deliver more silverware to the club.
“The last two weeks before we came back together, to be honest, I was a little bit struggling with not knowing when we will start and when we will be back together,” the No.6 admitted.”You put so many questions in your mind, ‘When will everything be back to normal?’ “But this is a great challenge for yourself and to show to everyone that you care about yourself, you care about your team.”So we did it and we did an amazing job. We came back in a great shape. We did some physical tests and I think it says a lot about the team,” he added.
The Premier League, which was suspended in March due to coronavirus, will resume after a 100-day hiatus on June 17 with Aston Villa taking on Sheffield United, followed by the game between Manchester City and Arsenal on the same evening.
Reds won six European Cups, more than any other English club, three UEFA Cups, four UEFA Super Cups (both also English records), one FIFA Club World Cup, eighteen League titles, seven FA Cups, a record eight League Cups and fifteen FA Community Shields. (IANS)
