Emre Can has claimed that Liverpool's winning form is down to Jurgen Klopp's "hard" pre-season schedule.

The Reds manager demanded plenty from his players before the campaign began, and it appears as though they are reaping the benefits having moved to the top of the Premier League table.

The Merseyside outfit have won eight of their 11 games in the top flight and they stretched their unbeaten run in the division to nine with a 6-1 thumping of Watford prior to the international break.

Klopp's men are also the league's current top scorers with 30 goals, but it is tight at the top as just two points separate first from fourth.

"I came a little bit later to pre-season, but it was very hard," Can told the club's official website. "I remember when I came to pre-season I didn't see the ball for the first four or five days, it was just run, run, run!

"But it's very important because our style of play is very hard fitness-wise, and if you see the games, the last few games, we always run more than the other teams and that's why it was very, very important for us."

Can has scored twice in his last two games for Liverpool.