Jurgen Klopp does not believe Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola's assertion that the whole of England is supporting Liverpool is correct.
After Sunday's 5-0 demolition of Newcastle which moved the defending champions three points clear at the top of the table, City boss Guardiola said: "Everyone in this country supports Liverpool, the media and everyone.
"Of course because Liverpool has an incredible history in European competition. Not in the Premier League, because they have won one in 30 years, but it is not a problem at all."
Klopp rejected that suggestion, saying: "I live in Liverpool so, yes, here a lot of people want us to win the league that's true - but even here only it's probably only 50% because the other people (Everton fans) were involved in another fight, at least until yesterday.
"I have no idea if the whole country is supporting us, I don't know that. It is not the feeling I get when we go to other places and play there, it is actually the opposite, but maybe he knows more about that than me."
Next up for Liverpool is a clash on Tuesday against an Aston Villa side managed by former club captain and icon Steven Gerrard, who has urged his team to embrace the challenge of facing the Reds.
Villa are coming off the back of Saturday's 3-1 win at Burnley which left them 11th and Gerrard wants his players to stand up against his former club.
"Liverpool are a world-class team. Arguably, the best team in the world right now. We're well aware of the challenge," said Gerrard.
"I've spoken many times about how I respect the coach and the coaching staff there. You either fear that or you put your shoulders back and try to take it on and find situations where you can have your moments in the game.
"Every team on the planet, historically or now, there's always areas or situations that happen in a game where you can hurt them.
"We're well aware of the size of the challenge, but it's exciting and I'm looking forward to it. Big games of football are what it's all about.
"I know where the team is at and I know that we're capable of winning football matches. I know we're capable of going on runs to recover situations - we did it when we initially came in.
"We didn't get too carried away when we were winning games on the spin, and at the same time, when you go on a tough run and suffer a few bumps it's important to stick together and have belief in your players.
"It was tough - no one wants to lose four matches, but I had confidence that with the fixtures we had coming up we could put it right and recover our situation.
"My job is to win games for Aston Villa, that will always be the case when I'm representing the club. I want to win, fiercely, and that is no different tomorrow.
"In terms of Liverpool, the season is over 38 games and they play Aston Villa twice."
Follow Aston Villa v Liverpool with our live blog from 7.45pm Tuesday on RTÉ Sport Online and the RTÉ News app
