KLOPP IDOLS
In a true classic, rampant Liverpool shrugged off losing Coutinho to hand City their first defeat of the season
JURGEN KLOPP claimed Liverpool proved they can beat the best without Philippe Coutinho, after handing Manchester City their first league loss of the season.
The Reds were superb against City in their first game since Coutinho quit Anfield for Barcelona, and Liverpool manager Klopp said: “It was the right
statement. It’s not that I said in the meeting, ‘Boys, it would help a lot if you could win tonight and nobody would speak about Coutinho’, because we like talking about him. He’s probably still jumping around in his living room in Barcelona, happy about the win tonight. “Of course, for us, it’s important we showed it’s possible to play without him, so that’s a very important statement, absolutely. “It feels good for tonight and now we have another long week to prepare for the Swansea game.” Klopp was delighted by Liverpool’s scintillating display and claimed it was “a joy to watch”. The German said: “You need a really good football team to do what we did and, thank god, I have one! “It was just a joy to watch how both teams gave everything on the pitch. “It was a nice commercial for Premier League football. The whole world was watching it and, if someone didn’t like football before, they should be told, ‘That’s why we watch it all the time’. “Maybe it’s the only game they will lose in the whole season because they are so strong. But I really think we deserved to win tonight against a really good team.” Pep Guardiola has challenged his City players not to lose another league game after their unbeaten run came to an end. Guardiola wants his stars to react positively to their first domestic loss since April 23 and give the chasing pack no hope in the title race. “I would have preferred to win, and losing is never good news, but all teams lose games,” said the City manager. “What is important is that we don’t lose again. The most important game is the next one and that’s why Newcastle is so, so important. “People were saying one month ago, ‘It’s over, it’s over, it’s over’, but football is unpredictable, and today we have lost to a fantastic team. We played really good until the goal from Roberto Firmino and, after that, we lost a bit of our control. “You have to be sure to win the next game and fight until the end to win the Premier League. These kind of things must happen and we must analyse why and be positive.” Fabian Delph left on crutches and Guardiola claimed he could be out for a significant period of time with a knee injury. “I think he will be out for a while,” he added. “He has turned his knee.”