Jurgen Klopp blamed the wind for Liverpool’s frustrating draw at Goodison Park as the side slips to 2nd in the league table.
It was another frustrating evening for Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool as the side was held to a goalless draw in their second consecutive weekend fixture in the Premier League.
Jordan Pickford was brilliant for Everton as the side earned a well-deserved point at the Goodison Park.
Manchester City are now outrightly at the top of the table with a point’s advantage. Liverpool were 10 points ahead of Manchester City in December.
Liverpool will now face Bayern Munich in the Champions League round-of-16 tie at Anfield. The first leg of the tie finished in a 0-0 draw.
Jurgen Klopp’s men are now in a significant pressure for the title race. The side has a relatively easy opponent in Fulham, but face Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham on March 31.
Talking to Sky Sports after the game, Jurgen Klopp stated that the wind made it difficult for his players to take control in the game.
Very, very difficult game for different reasons,” Klopp said. “A wild opponent and – I know people don’t like it when I say this – the wind came from all different directions, you saw that in a lot of situations.
“It didn’t help any football play, especially when the ball was in the air which it was a lot. In a game that was difficult to control because of those things, we had I think three or four really big chances.”
The Liverpool manager further stated that while the result comes as a setback, the side will be ready for the game against Burnley next week.
“It’s 0-0 in a derby, we keep our unbeaten run against Everton but, of course, it’s not exactly what we wanted but it is easy to accept because it was a difficult game.”
Of course not, there is nothing to be concerned about, we have to take the situation like it is,” he added.
“Four days ago we talked about a free-flowing Liverpool side. It’s difficult games and it’s Burnley next, 12pm, but it’s at Anfield so it’s only 400 yards away from here but it’s completely different.”
Virgil Van Dijk, meanwhile, stated that the players now need to prepare for PSG, adding that Liverpool deserved three points from the game.
“I think we deserved three points, based on the chances. It says a lot when they are celebrating a 0-0,” Van Dijk said.
“We had chances to win the game. It is what it is, we go again.”
The Dutchman stated that the players need to put the performance behind and focus on the game against Bayern Munich.
“I like these kind of games.
“But we came to get three points, We need to recover.
“Our next game is our only focus. Everyone wants to be top, but we can’t change this situation.”
Former Liverpool player and pundit Jamie Carragher stated that Liverpool are still pretty much in the title race.
It’s still not over, there’s a long way to go, lots of points I think will be dropped at different times,” he said.
“But I do feel there should have been more of a change, more of an attacking threat from Liverpool, the substitutions that they made, certainly on the hour mark [with Milner coming on].”
Carragher added that the result hardly comes as a setback as there is still a long way to go in the league.
“Liverpool have only lost one game this season. I played in a season where we only lost two games and still didn’t win the league.
“It doesn’t matter how many games you lose, it’s points that are dropped, and these points at the moment are proving vital.
“You look and you think ‘could they have been more proactive with the substitutions that they made?’.
“We’ll only know that at the end of the season.”
