Jurgen Klopp felt that a draw would have been a fair result, speaking after his Liverpool side lost 2-1 to Manchester United on Saturday.

The Reds were punished for individual errors in the first half, Marcus Rashford scoring twice before an Eric Bailly own goal brought Klopp's men back into the game later on.

Liverpool did have chances, including numerous penalty shouts, but couldn't quite do enough to bring the score back level and move five points below United in the league as a result.

Draw would have been fair

Speaking to Liverpool's official website after the game, Klopp said; "I think if in the end it was a draw, nobody could have an argument about that."

Dejan Lovren was subject to criticism for the way he failed to handle Romelu Lukaku's physical threat for each United goal whilst Trent Alexander-Arnold was criticised for failing to track Rashford, something Klopp seemed to hint he noticed post game.

"In the situations around the two goals, it was not like it should be – you cannot leave a player alone.

"With Romelu Lukaku, he can win the headers sometimes – we did it afterwards [won the headers], but in these two situations we didn’t."

No complaints about United style

The result was the first time Jose Mourinho or Klopp have got one over each other on English soil, the three previous league games between the two having been drawn.

Klopp had previously criticised the way Mourinho had set United up to play against his Liverpool team, feeling that the Red Devils were better than simply 'parking the bus'. However, he had no complaints after Saturday's game. 

"I said before the game, it’s all about winning – not about style," said Klopp.

"That’s your discussion, not mine. [Manchester] City won here with two set-pieces – nobody creates against Manchester United 10 or 15 100 per cent chances, no-brainers."

Second place gone?

Saturday's fixture was hyped up as the battle for second place, with Liverpool and United both far behind Manchester City in first.

Mourinho's men now hold a five point gap over the Reds with eight games of the season to go, but Klopp was keen to express that second remains the aim.

"We won’t stop," he said.

"Of course it matters for us. But we cannot wish and say, ‘come on, give us second place’. We need to win football games to do it."

 

VAVEL Logo
About the author