Liverpool team-mates praise Alexis Mac Allister for his crucial goal against struggling Sheffield United

Jurgen Klopp hailed in-form Alexis Mac Allister after his wonder goal took Liverpool back to the top of the Premier League with victory over Sheffield United.

‘I would rather you all use your eyes and say what you see but it’s obvious that he’s a super important player for us,’ said the Liverpool manager.

The Argentinian midfielder has now been involved in 10 goals (five goals, five assists) in his last 10 appearances for Liverpool in all competitions.

‘I met his father after the game. He said ‘Thank you’ and I said ‘Gracias’. He’s a wonderful

player, a wonderful boy and I’m really happy for Liverpool that we got him, added Klopp.

Jurgen Klopp reserved the warmest of hugs for his midfield maestro, who has been in superb form

Mac Allister restored Liverpool’s advantage with an emphatic strike in the 76th minute before Cody Gakpo wrapped up the three points in the dying stages.

Klopp’s side have now scored 26 Premier League goals this season in the final 15 minutes of matches, 10 more than any other side but the Liverpool manager insisted that the first goal pleased him the most after Darwin Nunez was rewarded for charging down the goalkeeper with Ivo Grbic’s clearance hitting Nunez and rebounding into the net.

‘We scored one of my favourite goals to be 1-0 up. We try a lot to press the opponent and it is rare you get that close, said Klopp, who admitted that his side struggled against a low block before eventually getting the job done after Conor Bradley’s own goal had levelled things up in the second half.

‘We controlled the game but there are different ways to do it. The way we did it was not the right one. 

‘You don’t even have counter-attacks, What you have to do is accelerate, speed up, underlap, overlap, Robbo (Robertson) going down the line constantly after coming on was helpful. 

‘The game was a difficult one to get rhythm. We needed Macca’s wonder goal to turn it around,’ Klopp added.

Mac Allister has been the driving force for Liverpool in recent weeks and has now produced a goal contribution in each of his last six Premier League games

Defeat for Chris Wilder’s side has left them ten points from safety with eight games remaining

Defeat for Sheffield United left them ten points from safety with eight games remaining and all but set for an immediate return to the Championship but Chris Wilder took confidence from his sides performance.

‘I’ve seen teams absolutely dismantled here. They can take anyone to the cleaners. They’re just world class operators with a manager and crowd that’s absolutely united in what they’re trying to achieved, said Wilder. 

‘The narrative before the game from everyone was that this was going to be a pretty comfortable evening for Liverpool. 

‘Losing always hurts but over our last three performances since the Arsenal defeat, I’ve liked what I’ve seen in terms of consistency, being competitive, structured and giving the opposition problems which we have done. You’ve got to see that all the time.’