Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has claimed Manchester United’s injury crisis actually had a negative effect on his players.
The two teams played a fairly uneventful goalless draw at Old Trafford and although Klopp’s men dominated possession they failed to create any clear-cut chances against their rivals.
Klopp hinted Liverpool’s failure to win was a missed opportunity
It means Liverpool are top of the Premier League by a point but the result will be viewed by many as a missed opportunity as United had to make all three substitutes before half-time.
Liverpool had their own injury problems with Roberto Firmino coming off with an ankle injury but United had an injury crisis in the game.
Ander Herrera and Juan Mata went off in quick succession midway through the first-half before Jesse Lingard, who came on as a sub picked up an injury of his own just before half-time.
Klopp suggested United’s injuries disrupted the game at a point where Liverpool were on top
However, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men fought bravely to earn a point and preserve the interim boss’ unbeaten record in the league since he took charge in December.
But Klopp suggested that the injuries to the United players affected Liverpool’s rhythm for the worse.
He told talkSPORT after the game: “We started exactly like we wanted, it was really direct, in behind and we put them under a lot of pressure.
“Then the injury crisis started and they had a strange day. Unfortunately that made us lose rhythm even though it shouldn’t and we couldn’t really get it back until the end.”
However, the Liverpool boss then admitted he feels United were there for the taking.
Klopp added: “I’m not overly happy. It was a very strange game.
“We had to be careful of their counter-attacks and set pieces. They were really dangerous and now it’s a point. A point at United away is obviously completely ok but the only problem is that today I think we really could have beaten them but we didn’t so that’s how it is.
“We go again but it helps that we are really self-critical and we have to play better. We will try to do this on Wednesday [against Watford].
Klopp got very irate at points at his players’ lack of composure during the match
“Hopefully Bobby’s [Firmino] injury isn’t too serious but we all need to click. If you want to be champions at the end of the season you have to click constantly and today we didn’t click really but it’s still a point at United and that’s fine.
“I think a lot of people expected us to lose but we didn’t and now let’s play the rest of the season.”
This story was originally published by talkSPORT
via USAHint.com
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