Jurgen Klopp said watching parts of his Liverpool side’s 1-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace which put a huge dent in their hopes to win the Premier League was horrible.
After being battered by Atalanta 3-0 in the Europa League in midweek- which was Liverpool’s first loss at Anfield in 14 months- Klopp’s men were once again toothless as Eberechi Eze’s goal was enough to give Palace all three points.
Liverpool did pass up a number of clear-cut chances, but it was not enough to overpower a determined Palace side who are starting to show signs of improvement under new head coach Oliver Glasner.
It is first time Liverpool have tasted consecutive home defeats since 2021 and it now leaves them two points adrift of Manchester City with six games to play. The defeat to Palace was all the more painful when Aston Villa beat Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates to also damage the Gunner’s title aspirations. Had Liverpool beaten Palace, they would have taken initiative in the title race but instead it is now in City’s hands.
“The first half was absolutely not good enough,” Klopp said after the game.
“We showed a reaction in the second half. We lost conviction from the last game. We concede the goal, which is a horrible goal. A completely free player in the six-yard box, that cannot happen.
“From that moment on, Crystal Palace didn’t have that many. We controlled the second half better. I think we can easily say, if you don’t score with these chances, what can you say? We tried a structure change and caused them real problems.
“If you would look at my teams throughout the years, you would say our pressing is good, our counter-press is there, but it is just we are open. How can that happen? Curtis was the only one really chasing. They could play through. It was horrible to watch.
“That’s how humans react sometimes. It happens. The conviction was not there. We were far apart from each other, last line too deep, midfield not really there. First line didn’t really start the press. That’s all true. Where it’s coming from? I cannot answer that 100 per cent.
“Here we stand, lost the game, feel really rubbish and now we need a bit of time to process that. It’s a really bad moment, the second home game in a row we lose. I cannot pick anyone up in this moment, that would not be honest. I stand here and feel really average, or below. I cannot change the world in interviews. I need time to think about it.
“If we play like we did in the first half, why should we win the league? If we play like we did in the second half, yeah, we can pick up points here and there.”
