Jurgen Klopp has said he feels the 0-0 draw at Manchester United on Sunday was two points dropped for his team but also mentioned that the injury problems suffered by United had hindered his side’s flow.
Klopp’s Liverpool returned to the top of the Premier League, one point clear of Manchester City, in a game that saw United’s Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard go off injured before the break.
His words, “It was a strange game,”
“I think we started really, really well. We started exactly like we wanted to start, and then the injury crisis started as well.
“That obviously cost us the rhythm today. It was like: ‘Oh, what’s going on now?’ At the end, we have to admit that United played with a completely new midfield, a pretty much new three upfront. We lost the rhythm and couldn’t get it back.
“We played, but they had the set pieces, not really a lot of counterattacks. It was a game without a lot of highlights, I would say.
“But in the situation today, for sure, it’s for United a point they won and we lost two. On days when United are beatable and you can beat them, then you have to do it. We didn’t and that’s the situation.”
On Firmino’s injury, he said, “I didn’t see a lot of other problems,” he said. “It’s not only the final third. The final third is then, of course, what we are doing with the balls we get. We didn’t play a lot of wonderful balls there, to be honest.
“It was not flexible enough. The buildup from deep was OK, but then of course you need to be flexible, you need to keep the ball in the right areas, you need to shoot. We didn’t do it often enough.
“I’m happy about that we only had one [injury] at least, and hopefully it’s not too serious — I don’t know at the moment. Now let’s carry on.”
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