Klopp explains unwavering faith in his side to bounce back from Man City loss

LFC Globe
4th January 2019
Liverpool FC

Jurgen Klopp has insisted he has faith in his Liverpool players to bounce back from defeat to title rivals on Thursday.

The Reds' nine-game winning run came to an end with their first defeat of the season to reigning champions Man City at the Etihad.

Sergio Aguero gave the side a first-half lead, only for to level the scores just after the hour mark.

With the game continuing at a frantic pace, Leroy Sane's 72nd minute low strike beat Alisson at the far post to give City all three points.

Liverpool remain at the top of the table, four points ahead of Pep Guardiola's side, who will feel buoyed in the title race after a hard-earned victory.

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Image: AFP/Getty Images and LFC

Whilst the Reds are still in a healthy position, questions have been asked about how they may respond to their first defeat, with Klopp insisting his side will take it game by game.

“I have so much faith in my players you can't imagine,” he said.

“If somebody would have told me after both games against Manchester City we are four points up, I would've paid money for it like you wouldn't believe.

“For us it is really important we take it game by game because there is no other chance. If we would have won the title five times in the last 10 years then we go 100 per cent, but we don't have the experience in that.

“Why should we behave like somebody who won it all the time? It's true that we didn't it for a long time, the club didn't and we never won it as a team, that's how it is.

“We want to finish the season as good as possible and that's our right, we can do that.

“We are still in a pretty good position so it's all fine for us. Not in the moment, it feels really bad, but it's only the moment.

“Tomorrow morning we wake up, it feels still average and then we have the opportunity to work on it and prepare for the next game and that's what we will 100 per cent do. That's all.”

It was an unlucky night for the Reds, who could have taken the lead in the first half after Sadio Mane's shot to hit the post and the ensuing ball was cleared off the line.

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Both sides were playing like there were more than just three points at stake and as the game wore on, the intensity never appeared to drop.

“Sometimes it's just a little bit: the cross was not good enough or the last pass, that happens,” Klopp explained.

“But it's not about one or two players, you just have to constantly work for the momentum – if you have it then try to keep it, if you don't have it then you try to get it.

“In a lot of moments it was really wild, a lot of rusty moments when somebody kicked the ball out, a blue one, a red one, and you think ‘what's that?'.

“But it's because they felt completely under football pressure – ‘the next player is coming, I don't have time'.

“It was a really intense football game for both teams. They won it, we lost it and it is sometimes like this.”

The Reds next take on in the on Monday, before facing Brighton at the Amex Stadium in the Premier League next weekend.

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