Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool’s title bubble has not burst but admitted his team were lucky to escape with a draw from West Ham.
Liverpool extended their lead at the top of the table to three points after a hard-fought clash at the London Stadium but they will be second the next time they face Bournemouth at the weekend if Manchester City beat Everton on Wednesday.
Klopp, who was involved in a heated row with Manuel Pellegrini at the final whistle and exchanged strong words with referee Kevin Friend, does not believe the pressure of trying to lead a title race is affecting his players.
Jurgen Klopp exchanged words with Manuel Pelligrino during the Premier League clash
‘It was not our best, of course,’ said Klopp, whose preparations for the game were disrupted by injuries to key midfielder Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum plus an illness to James Milner. ‘It was difficult because of the opponent and our own situation.
‘We had good moments. We scored the goal, which was offside The referee must know that at half-time, it explains the second half because I think the referee knew and you saw there were a lot of strange situations, not decisive, just rhythm breakers.’
Asked what he said to referee Kevin Friend after the game, Klopp replied: ‘I was really calm. He said we don't talk at all. There were so many situations where it was 50-50 or 60-40... free kick for the other team. As a human being, I know if I make a big mistake in the first half I don't want to open the gap even more.
The Liverpool boss was involved in a heated row with Pellegrini at the final whistle
‘They scored the goal and it was a deserved draw. I didn't see a good game from us, a couple didn't perform at the highest level but that has happened before and it will happen in the future.’
That reaction was given to Sky TV but in a subsequent press conference, Klopp was more conciliatory and said: ‘Our goal was offside, I didn’t know that at half-time. Nobody told me. After the game, our analyst told me that. West Ham also had a couple of other set pieces that were really strong.’
West Ham were excellent and had the game’s three outstanding performers in Issa Diop, Felipe Anderson and Declan Rice; their goal was also created with an inventive free-kick, that Michail Antonio swept in after spinning off Naby Keita.
Antonio’s strike cancelled out Sadio Mane’s opener, which should not have
