Jurgen Klopp has narrowed down the Manchester United draw for Liverpool’s lack of clinical edge in front of goal following their defeat against Everton on April 24.
The Reds were dealt a major blow in their pursuit of the Premier League title as they lost 2-0 in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on Wednesday. Jarrad Branthwaite opened the scoring in the 27th minute before Dominic Calvert-Lewin doubled Everton’s lead in the 58th minute.
Liverpool had 23 attempts on goal with seven being on target but failed to score, which has become a trend in recent games. They recently drew 2-2 against Manchester United at Old Trafford on April 7. They had 28 total attempts on goal, with 16 coming in the first half itself, but scored just twice.
After the defeat in the Merseyside derby, Jurgen Klopp spoke about the Premier League title race and his side missing chances and said (via ECHO):
“I understand it, it’s part of the business but I don’t know why I have to answer this question [about the title race], you can read the table. I can’t say now that we are still fully in it, we need a crisis at Man City and Arsenal and need to win football games because if they start losing all their games and we do what we did tonight nothing changes.”
He added:
“We are not safe in the Champions League (qualification) as well so we should just play better football. That would be really [good]. You can see we are in a rush in front of goal.
“It’s long ago now but I blame the Manchester United game a little when you play really well, with all those chances and don’t get anything for it. And that is really bad. Since then we create but don’t score often enough. That doesn’t help.”
Liverpool have had 64 attempts on goal in four games between United and Everton, scoring just four goals. This saw them losing against Crystal Palace at home and getting eliminated from the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals against Atalanta.
Liverpool fail to keep up with Arsenal in Premier League title race
Coming into the midweek fixtures, Arsenal were at the top of the league standings, with Liverpool behind them on goal difference. The Gunners then hammered London rivals Chelsea 5-0 at home on Wednesday and the Reds need to respond in the Merseyside derby.
However, it wasn’t to be as Everton were brilliant at Goodison Park and gave the Reds plenty of problems. They had 16 attempts on goal with six being on target despite having just 23% possession. It was Jurgen Klopp’s first-ever defeat at Goodison Park.
Liverpool are still second in the table but are now three points behind Arsenal. They are a point above Manchester City, who have two games in hand. They have another big test coming up when they face West Ham United away on Saturday, April 27.
