Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp makes Man City 'crisis' comment after Everton collapse

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has admitted that his side will now be relying on a crisis at title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal after his side suffered a costly 2-0 defeat away to Everton in the Merseyside derby.

The defeat marked Everton’s first home victory against the Reds in 14 years, leaving them eight points clear of the drop zone and well on their way to safety with just four games to spare. In the process, Sean Dyche’s men - who were superbly drilled at the back = have left Liverpool lagging behind in the title race. 

Reflecting on a poor evening for his side, Klopp claimed that Liverpool played the game to Everton’s strengths rather than their own. He explained: “I can only apologise for today to the people. It is very disappointing. We played the game Everton wanted and they scored two goals from set-pieces. We should have done better but we didn’t.

“No good thoughts at all. Very disappointed and frustrated. It was not good enough. It was not the most inspired performance of all time, I really feel for the people. We never lost here (it was Everton’s first Goodison derby win in almost 14 years) and it feels really different. I really apologise for that.”

As it stands, Liverpool trail league leaders Arsenal by three points and they are just one point clear of defending champions Manchester City, who still have two games in hand. 

Klopp conceded that his side are now reliant on results elsewhere to hand them a lifeline. He said: “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. We are not safe in the Champions League as well so we should just play better football.

“It is not a problem of attitude or what the boys want. No one is doing that on purpose. It is my job to bring them into a situation where they feel confident to do that. That part I am responsible and I am responsible for what happened tonight. It is not that I feel great, that is the most tricky part of football obviously. In the moment it didn’t work out and we have to keep trying.”

Liverpool will look to put their Merseyside Derby dismay behind them at the weekend when they make the trip to East London to take on West Ham, who are managed by the last Everton boss to beat Liverpool at Goodison Park, David Moyes.

Elsewhere, the Reds will keep a close eye on tonight’s game between champions Manchester City and Brighton along with their trip to strugglers Nottingham Forest on Sunday. Arsenal, fresh from their emphatic 5-0 win over Chelsea, will once again face London opposition as they take on arch-rivals Tottenham on Sunday.