‘Feels like there was more’: Klopp says Liverpool did something today that he wants ‘to do more often’ against City

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Jurgen Klopp saw Liverpool do something against Manchester City that he wants more often from his side. The Reds played out a 2-2 draw.

Liverpool remain one point behind Manchester City in the title race after a 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium. It was an intense game, with both sides hoping to come away as favourites for the Premier League trophy.

As it is, neither side can really say they’re ‘favourites’, though City have things in their hands. Win every game and they’re champions – but it might really take perfection.

And so there’s a bit of frustration at Liverpool. They could have come away with three points here on another day, only for defensive mistakes to cost them. That was certainly the opinion of Virgil van Dijk after the game.

But what about Jurgen Klopp? The Liverpool boss gave his immediate reaction to Premier League Productions after this one and he feels there was more for his team. In fact, he saw them do something he simply wants to happen more often.

Jurgen Klopp on Liverpool

“So after the game, I said to the boys ‘I’m happy with a lot of things but it feels like there was more for us’,” said Klopp. “In the moments where we played football, we created more problems for them than we did in the past.

“What we did around the first [Liverpool] goal is actually what we want to do more often. The only problem is that we lose the ball and their counter-attacks are really crazy. And you don’t just shake that off.”

Klopp, then, feels Liverpool just weren’t quite as aggressive or confident with their football. And he might be right – that first goal was a sensational example of pressing high after losing the ball and controlling play.

Liverpool switched it well to Trent Alexander-Arnold and worked a pass into the box but it didn’t come off. They quickly got it back, however, and forced another opportunity as Andy Robertson got the ball to the far post. That resulted in a goal and the Reds were level.

But as Klopp says, pushing that hard against City is very tough. You’re under enormous pressure to keep the ball because of their transition and they’ll just keep coming.

Could Liverpool have taken a few more risks, then? Maybe if they hadn’t made errors at the back but overall, it wasn’t a lack of chances that cost the Reds three points. What they did create was excellent – they just didn’t deliver at the back.