Jurgen Klopp has admitted that Chelsea will be worthy winners of the Premier League this season, but is adamant that his Liverpool side are not far behind the Blues.
An impressive first campaign in English football for Antonio Conte will end in title success should his side pick up victory against West Bromwich Albion on Friday night.
Chelsea stormed clear of the chasing pack at the turn of the year and have since held off the gallant pursuit of Tottenham Hotspur, with Liverpool some way back on 70 points - 14 adrift of Chelsea after playing a game more.
Klopp does not believe that the table tells the whole story, though, claiming that the divide between the two teams is not as great as it is made out to be and even suggesting that the champions-elect got lucky.
"You have to look at the games we played against Chelsea. We were not worse than 16 points, or whatever it is at the moment. That is for sure," The Telegraph quotes him as saying. "But they are experienced, cold as ice and they get the points.
"They play very serious and finish when they have to finish. Now they are in a good run again and difficult to stop at this moment but we will all have a different season next year. It's not just about Chelsea. You saw how we played against Tottenham. We all know the gap is not that big but the gap was big enough.
"Chelsea deserved the title but I said already they had most luck with injuries. Diego Costa? Did he miss one game? Eden Hazard one game? Pedro could play, Willian could play, their defensive line could play. You need this luck and then you go through. I don't say we could have gone through but the gap could have been closer."
Liverpool see out their season with games against West Ham United and Middlesbrough, likely requiring victories in both to finish in the top four.
Daniel Lewis
