Liverpool know only too well the intense pressure of battling with Manchester City in the Premier League title race. As the nerves crept in, Jurgen Klopp's side survived a huge scare on Tuesday night to come from a goal down to outmanoeuvre Aston Villa 2-1.

The hard-earned victory, which moved the Reds level on points with league leaders City, came on the same day their title rivals announced that they "have reached an agreement in principle for the transfer of striker Erling Haaland."

The cold reality of seeing City secure the service of one of the hottest properties in European football is sobering for Liverpool. The 21-year-old Norwegian prodigy, who has scored 85 goals in 88 appearances for Dortmund, will add more young firepower to City's fearsome front line. 

Nevertheless, where there's a will there's a way. What Liverpool could do right now is to ensure the title race will go down to the wire. They surely did it the hard way.

Klopp's men suffered a shock only three minutes into the Villa tie when Douglas Luiz bundled home after a goalmouth scramble. While Villa wasted a host of chances thereafter to extend their lead that could have put this game to bed, Liverpool displayed admirable resilience and staged a fightback through brilliant goals from Joel Matip and Sadio Mane.

"It's about digging in, keeping going and finding a way to win," observed Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson.

City still have that advantage on goal difference but Liverpool's victory over Villa means the title suspense will continue until the final week of the season.

"We cannot do more than win," Klopp said. "A lot of people thought this could be a banana skin, that it could be a struggle for us, and how the boys sorted that was absolutely outstanding."

The Liverpool manager singled out Mane for special praise. The Senegalese striker's match winner in the 65th minute was his 22nd goal for the club in all competitions this campaign.

"He's a machine, I told him after the game. He is a massive player. His physicality is brutal. He is a mix of technique, desire and physicality when at the moment everyone has a few yards in the legs," beamed Klopp. "You can see it with him to be honest. He is just a fantastic world-class player."

During the post-match conference, the subject inevitably shifted to Haaland. When asked how much stronger Haaland will make City following his transfer, Klopp only replied with a wry smile. "I think Erling will certainly score a lot of goals. He is a real beast," he said. "He was injured a couple of times at Dortmund but when he is fit he is a real beast. Unfortunately, he is a really good signing."

"But City was and will never be a team that wins games because of one player, because of the way, the specific way, they play," Klopp added.

Meanwhile, Klopp admitted that he was not sure what to make of Fabinho's potentially troublesome injury as the holding midfielder was forced off during the early stages of the game. It could a serious blow for Liverpool ahead of their FA Cup final against Chelsea on Saturday.