Jurgen Klopp assesses 5 teams in Premier League title race

Jurgen Klopp has shared his thoughts on Liverpool's Premier League title rivals. The Reds' boss expects a difficult race.

Liverpool are into the difficult winter period now. They've just beaten Sheffield United 2-0, days after their 4-3 win against Fulham. Now it's just a few more days until another Premier League tie - the early kick-off on Saturday versus Crystal Palace.

Things are tough, of course, but Liverpool are currently in the title race. They're two points behind leaders Arsenal and two above third-placed Aston Villa. It's four ahead of Manchester City.

It's shaping up to be the tightest title race in quite some time, in fact. There are at least four teams, arguably five, vying for top spot and the Christmas period could well be what separates contenders from pretenders.

So what does Jurgen Klopp think? He was asked about the competition in his post-match press conference on Wednesday and the boss took the opportunity to assess every team involved.

"If somebody would write City off, it would be the biggest joke in the history of football," said Klopp. "Arsenal is obviously fighting, they had a similar experience as we had a few days before. Feels really good. You have to play the next game from the start again at 0-0, they're not 4-3 already - you don't score a late goal and take that into the next game.

"Aston Villa is incredible. [Manchester] United is there, [they] don't maybe play exactly the football they or whoever wants, but they have points like crazy so they are around. Chelsea, I don't know if they're coming but you have to play them anyway! So who cares where they are, we have to play them and they're incredibly strong, the league is incredibly strong.

"You need to be lucky to get through difficult moments, with injuries especially, so I have no clue where this will end up."

It's certainly more competitive than it has been for some time - everyone is used to a two-team race at this stage. Of course, everything could change rapidly.

The Premier League isn't even halfway done and there's more than enough room for manoeuvring from every team at the top. Notably, Klopp forgot to mention Tottenham Hotspur, who could go level with City on 30 points if they win their next game.

Newcastle United, too, can climb above Manchester United with their game in hand - and would be just a point behind City.

This one is just heating up, then. Liverpool have a lot to contend with if they're to win what could be the most diverse title race in well over a decade.