Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp admits an extended break sparked their late top four surge.
The Reds are only a point behind fourth place Manchester United, though have played one game more.
We try to give ourselves a chance for a fresh start with a lot of different things, different football things," Klopp said.
We had eight or nine days between games and we wanted to use that time to start the new season already, not knowing where it would lead us to but we didn't want to waste more time.
It was a breath of fresh air. Not just for the players but for all of us and the coaches as well. We want to control the game differently, protect our game differently, in different formations and to be honest, it's really good fun to think about it, work on it and then the results came in.
Sometimes you have to change big things to turn things, not just little things."
