Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp called his Premier League team loss to Burnley on Thursday as “a big punch to the face” and minimized the Reds’ chances of staying in the title shot.
Burnley defeated Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield, ending the 68-game Premier League home unbeaten run. The defeat left Liverpool six points behind Manchester United at the top of the table, but more worrying marked the fourth straight game in which the defending champions failed to score.
– Reviews: Alisson 5/10 when Liverpool’s unbeaten streak ends
– Broadcast ESPN FC Daily on ESPN + (U.S. only)
Klopp did not measure words after the game, telling Match of the Day that the defeat – courtesy of a penalty from Ashley Barnes in the 83rd minute – was particularly difficult to swallow.
“Everything, all the English words, a hard punch to the face or whatever,” said Klopp of the defeat. “It is my responsibility, that is the easy explanation. We had the ball a lot, created some and didn’t end the situations. This keeps the game open and then they take the penalty – Alisson told me he didn’t touch it, but I didn’t see him back.
“They are wrong decisions at the moment, three crosses in the area, we try to find a player, we haven’t found it, it’s my job to make the boys in the right position, to feel good.
“It is difficult, it is not easy to explain. These boys are not the type of [people] after a 7-0 think that we will go like this. They worked hard tonight and it didn’t. If something doesn’t work, you need to try harder, more often, for longer. It was not easy to lose that game and we did it. “
0:43
ESPN FC’s Mark Ogden can choose between Paul Pogba and Georginio Wijnaldum.
Klopp added that the Reds have no one to blame but themselves, and said that any solution will come from within the team.
“It is not about blaming, we have to solve it together and we will do it. In football you don’t have much time. We try hard, sometimes the right things and sometimes not. That is the problem. breaking the wall trying, in a good mood. We had chances.
“We cannot imagine the title race at the moment.”
Liverpool are next in action on Sunday when they visit Manchester United for a match in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Then they will play against Tottenham in the league four days later in London.