MY ACCOUNT
Jurgen Klopp is “concerned” by Liverpool’s winless start to the Premier League campaign, but he suggested his side only needed to be “a little bit better” to beat Manchester United in Monday’s 2-1 loss.
Liverpool followed up surprise draws against Fulham and Crystal Palace in their opening two games with defeat to fierce rivals United at Old Trafford.
Mohamed Salah pulled a goal back in the 81st minute, but strikes from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford were enough to give Erik ten Hag his first win in charge of United.
It marks the first time since the 2012-13 season under Brendan Rodgers that Liverpool have failed to win any of their opening three Premier League fixtures.
With his side a lowly 16th at this early stage with two points from a possible nine – and already five points adrift of Manchester City – Klopp accepts a big turnaround is required.
“I am concerned about our situation, but that is how it is. We deal with it and we prepare now for Bournemouth, then Newcastle, then Everton,” he told Sky Sports.
Liverpool looked particularly sloppy in a defensive sense at Old Trafford, where they finished with an expected goals return of 1.39 compared to United’s 1.67.
The visitors had more shots on target (five to four), though, while also dominating the possession with 70.2 per cent of the ball, albeit with United dropping off when two goals up.
And after seeing his injury-plagued side suffer a first defeat in 22 league games in a run stretching back to last December, Klopp felt only fine margins denied his side.
“We are in a tricky situation injury wise – we got through the week with 14 or 15 senior players available, and we have to make sure they don’t get injured now,” the German said.
“Even with our situation, with being a little bit better, we should have won this game. I know it sounds ridiculous, but that is how I saw it.”
He added: “They were really aggressive in the beginning – it was clear what would happen. They were more aggressive than us, and they hit the post early on. It was a hectic game.
“They had the first chance and scored the goal, and then we took over and played the game we wanted to play more or less. We were unlucky with situations.
“In a game like this, against an opponent like United, it would be very helpful if we could score in this moment and go 1-1 at half time.
“The second goal does not help, then we score ours and it was a hectic game with a lot of interruptions, stuff like this. It was definitely not the result we wanted.”
Klopp continued: “When we calmed down, we were immediately there; we had an extreme number of shots for an away game at United. We should have used more of those moments, obviously.
“In the second half, there was a fantastic save of [David] De Gea, and we were unlucky in other situations.. If you score in a moment like this, then the game turns and we were there for that, but then we did not have enough time or power in the end.”
Liverpool host Bournemouth and Newcastle United in their next two games, and Klopp vowed his side would show a response at Anfield.
“We want to play the football we are able to play, and we want to fight,” he told BBC Sport. “We have a good home game on Saturday and Anfield has to be rocking.
“We have to set the fire and the rhythm. We will try absolutely everything that every Liverpool supporter will expect – we will fight for our lives.”
