VIDEO: ‘Liverpool aim to win every match to extend winning run’

Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain says the Premier League leaders are going into every game believing they can win after racking up 13 victories in 14 games.

Jurgen Klopp’s unbeaten side have dropped just two points this season and established an eight-point advantage over second-placed Leicester.

But even the pressure of maintaining their winning run, which appears to grow with every game for a club searching for their first league title since 1990, has not affected the mentality within the club, according to Oxlade-Chamberlain.

“I’m going into it (a game) with the mindset that we’re going to win. I think that’s how we all feel,” the England international told the PA news agency.

“We’re going into the games expecting ourselves to win and anything else we’re disappointed with.”

He added: “I think that’s the mentality you need to be successful, to

have those high standards that nothing else is acceptable. Then you’ve got to let history take its course.”

Liverpool are firm favourites to end their title drought but midfielder Oxlade-Chamberlain said they needed to remain mentally strong.

“You’ve got to just keep going out and churning out results,” he said. “There might be a time where results don’t go so well and people maybe close the gap a little bit.

“We’ve got to be also ready for those moments mentally as a team to just keep going and see what happens.”

Liverpool’s next match is the Merseyside derby at home to struggling Everton on Wednesday, with the Reds unbeaten against their local rivals at Anfield since 1999.

But Klopp’s side have not kept a clean sheet at home all season and are without suspended first-choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

“I don’t think we’re leaking loads of goals but probably just a few little silly mistakes here and there all over the pitch,” said Oxlade-Chamberlain.

“But even when we have been conceding, we’re still finding a way to come up with the goods and most of the time at the minute it’s been winning the game.”

Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Klopp believes Virgil van Dijk would have been a worthy winner of the Ballon d’Or but understands why Lionel Messi lifted it for a sixth time.

The Dutch captain came second to the Argentina forward despite playing a huge role as Liverpool won the Champions League last season, overcoming Messi’s Barcelona in the semi-final.

“I see it slightly different and a lot of people see it slightly different but that’s absolutely no problem,” said Klopp.

“Lionel Messi, I’ve said probably 500,000 times in my life already, is probably the best player I saw in my lifetime.

“But I cannot remember a more impressive season from a defender ever. Honestly. So it would have been right if Virg won it. I heard it was pretty close.”

Liverpool host Everton in the 234th Merseyside derby, with the relegation-threatened Toffees looking to break a winless streak on the ground dating back to 1999.

Marco Silva’s position is under huge threat but while Klopp had sympathy for his counterpart he said he did not feel sorry for the Portuguese.

“Of course I have sympathy because I know how difficult the life of a manager can be,” he told his pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

Agencies