Jurgen Klopp admits Liverpool have to start making life "much more difficult" for their opponents on the road if they are to embark on another remarkable sprint for the top four.
The Reds visit League Cup finalists Newcastle United on Saturday evening aiming to avoid a fourth successive away Premier League defeat of the calendar year.
Having lost 3-1 at Brentford and 3-0 at Brighton and Hove Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers in the last six weeks, not since September 1954 have Liverpool conceded three goals in four consecutive league games on their travels.
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This time last year the Reds were in the midst of a nine-game winning top-flight run that helped them slash a 14-point gap to leaders Manchester City to a solitary point in a thrilling title challenge.
And while Champions League qualification will be the height of their ambitions this campaign - they stand nine points adrift of fourth-placed Newcastle with a game in hand - Klopp is hopeful the performance in Monday's 2-0 home derby win over Everton that earned a first league triumph since Boxing Day can prove the catalyst for another lengthy sequence of victories.
"Yes, I think (we can go on a run) but we have to show that," said the Reds boss. "It was incredibly difficult last year, and it's always incredibly difficult. If you go through the games, I'm pretty sure we won some of them late, we weren't always brilliant, we forced luck here and there and had other games where we were really flying, an early lead. Different moments.
"We didn't have these kind of situations really often (this season). A big part of the season I'm being asked about us being 1-0 down. We kept that for a pretty long time.
"You need to be stable to go through this (kind of winning run). That's the difference from the games we won against Aston Villa and Leicester after the World Cup to the game against Everton - this was us. The intensity was there. Yes, the goals were counter-attacks. But with all the bad things we did this season, we still have the second-most shots on targets I think, at least until last week, we still have the second-highest possession.
"And counter-attacking goals, I pretty much can't remember (us scoring any). Those kind of goals, it doesn't mean you defend deep all the time and then you have the chance to counter, we don't have that situation that often. But there are situations like after defending set-pieces where you can react quick, but you need different things like the awareness, the runs and, of course, precision with the passes."
Klopp added: "The intensity I loved the most from the Everton game. Not how much we were running but how intense we were in these moments. That creates the rhythm for us. We know tomorrow is Newcastle and nothing else. That's already difficult enough but it must be much more difficult for Newcastle than it was for all the other teams we have visited in previous times."
Liverpool have qualified for the Champions League in each of the last six seasons, including 2020/21 when, with only 10 games remaining, they were in eighth place and eight points adrift before eventually finishing third.
And asked if the feeling would be the same if qualification was achieved this season, Klopp said: "Yeah, yeah. It will be cool... but it's a long way!"
Klopp, meanwhile, has resisted calls for UEFA president Alekansder Ceferin to quit following the report into last year's Champions League final chaos in Paris.
But the Liverpool manager admits there should be repercussions within the governing body after the blame for the events was laid firmly at their door by the independent review.
Asked if Ceferin should resign, Klopp said: "Wow. No. I'm not sure who made the decision (to play the final in Paris), to be honest. I'm boss of some people, and on a lot of things I'm not 100% on the subject. So I get information from different people and then you make a decision. The better the information you get, the better the decisions are.
"I don't think Mr Ceferin maybe made the decision, but somebody put all the papers together saying what the best place is. I can't see him flying to Paris or Rome or Berlin and saying 'oh, it's not that good'. There are other people who bring that together. Maybe one of them should have a think if there is not a better place for them in another job. I don't know."
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