Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp talks about the title race after Manchester United draw
Liverpool FC’s draw against Manchester United will probably go down as the most disappointing result of the season for Jurgen Klopp and Co. Especially considering the performance that the players put in. Agreed, it was not our best and there were times where we could have taken this much smoother than they went, but the way Liverpool played cannot go categorised as ‘bad’ or ‘substandard’.
The Reds had 34 shots against the Red Devils without scoring. This is officially the most by any side without a goal in the competition since October 2016. Wasteful; as described by Opta. Rightly so.
If the Reds had sealed a victory at home against a visibly struggling Manchester United side, we would have ended our second successive game week on top of the Premier League. However, it was not meant to be. Currently, Arsenal lead the charts with 38 points. Liverpool follow in second at just one point short of the Gunners. Our goal difference keeps us over Aston Villa who are level on points. No brownie points to guess who we play against in the league next. Mikel Arteta’s men at Anfield.
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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, in the aftermath of the goalless draw at Anfield, spoke to BBC about the title race, how the festive period brings along congested fixtures and how it only gets tougher from here on. Here is what he had to say:
“It’s a tough period. We play Wednesday against West Ham, they’re flying and playing really well at the moment, then we have Arsenal and Burnley. It’s horrendous.”
“We have to make sure we get enough points in this period but then there’s a lot of football to play after that too. It’s important we get through this with as many players as possible.”
Frustrations.
To make things worse, Ryan Gravenberch also suffered from a hamstring injury in the game against Erik ten Hag’s men. We hope it is not a serious issue, but it surely is frustrating for the Reds to see so many of our players suffer from injuries.
Thiago has yet to feature this season, Alexis Mac Allister is still in recovery mode from a knee injury with the impact of a foul going straight to his bone, god knows when Diogo Jota might return, Joel Matip snapped his ACL, Andrew Robertson and Thiago can only sulk watching from behind the dugout, and even Stefan Bajcetic is yet to play.
As Liverpool look ahead to clashes against West Ham, Arsenal, and Burnley, Klopp’s words serve as a rallying cry for the team and its supporters.
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In matches half as important as the ones against Man United, the least Anfield can do is cheer on for the longest time possible. To hear from the former captain of our traditional rivals on Anfield being quiet is surely not how things should be. Hopefully, the coming weeks will be much more stronger for Liverpool and we bounce back hard from this setback.
