Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho has said playing for Premier League leaders is like playing for a country.
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caption:Sakho praised the Anfield atmosphere.
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Sakho, 24, has been overwhelmed by the atmosphere at Anfield since making a big-money move from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.
The France international told French radio station RMC: "The atmosphere is fantastic. I think it's really a reflection of the club.
"Liverpool isn't a small family of the players and the staff. It's really a very, very big family with all the supporters. For me, Liverpool is a country. It's a country of football because the support is really behind you and, when you know the history in this stadium, it’s really exceptional."
Sakho praised the atmosphere at Anfield towards the end of last weekend's potentially crucial 2-0 defeat to Chelsea, which handed Manchester City the initiative in the title race.
He said: "It was quite a difficult defeat [to take]. But now it's behind us and we have to concentrate on what we have to do until the end of the season.
"That means to take the six points, and then we’ll do our sums at the end."