Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren says his side must treat every game as if it were a final as they bid to end their long wait for a league crown.

The Reds have won the league title 18 times but their last success came nearly three decades ago, before the start of the Premier League era.

The Anfield side will be top at Christmas if they down Wolves on Friday night as they have a one-point lead over defending champions Manchester City in second spot.

Lovren is convinced Liverpool can maintain their form and land the title but admits they cannot afford to lose focus.

The Croatian defender also feels the Premier League battle is not a two-horse race just yet and says Spurs remain involved in the title fight.

“There are so many games in front of us and in front of them [Manchester City],” he told the club website.

“It will be a tight race and it’s not only City. Tottenham are only a couple of points [six] behind.

“You cannot sit and enjoy and say: ‘We have five or six points in front of everyone.’ It doesn’t work like that. Every game for us is a final.”

He added: “There’s a competition. This is what we want, but we don’t look at who is in front of us or behind us.

“It’s just about us. It’s more about how we train, how we do on the pitch and the result will come. There are quite a lot of games still to go but we go game by game.”

Liverpool are 3.25 to win the Premier League outright and City are the 1.36 favourites, with Tottenham available at 29.00.