‘Liverpool hampered by injuries’
LOSS OF MOMENTUM Manager Klopp says absence of key players reason behind league leaders’ below-par showing
LONDON: Jurgen Klopp pinpointed a mounting injury list as the explanation for Liverpool’s subpar performance in a 1-1 draw at West Ham on Monday that leaves the league leaders just three points clear of Manchester City.
Less than a week after missing the opportunity to go seven points clear of City with a 1-1 draw against Leicester, Liverpool again let a lead slip as Michail Antonio cancelled out Sadio Mane’s 22nd minute opener.
Victory over Everton on Wednesday will now take City to the top of the table, while Tottenham are just five points off the top in third. It could have been worse for Liverpool had Declan Rice and Mark Noble not failed to hit the target with chances to claim all three points for West Ham.
Klopp was without the injured Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum and Trent AlexanderArnold meaning James Milner started in an unfamiliar role at right-back, while the German was forced to name an experimental midfield three of Fabinho, Naby Keita and Adam Lallana.
“Last night we trained and after we had to change three positions,” said Klopp.
“It’s just a fact, it’s not an excuse. The preparation for the game was far from being perfect and we still got a point.”
After posting a perfect record against opposition outside the top six in their first 23 league games, Liverpool have now slipped up twice in as many matches to mount the tension in their chase for a first title in 29 years.
However, Klopp played down suggestions it is the pressure and the weight of history that has dragged his players down over the past week. “It’s not about pressure, it’s about enjoying the situation you are in,” added Klopp. “We have 62 points, have lost one game in the whole season so far which is very positive.
“I think from your faces already you (the media) feel sorry for us. We are fine. Tonight was just a tough game.” Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini claimed it was “impossible to play worse” after his side’s 3-0 capitulation to Wolves last week.
Even without the injured
straight matches to open up a sizeable lead in the standings but two draws and a loss in their last five matches means they just have a three-point buffer over City and a five-point difference with Tottenham. The Reds seem to be struggling in recent weeks as they chase their first top-flight title since 1989-90. They have now only one clean sheet in the seven games since Boxing Day. behind Liverpool’s struggle in defence is the absence of three key players at the backline —first-choice centre-back Joe Gomez, the impressive Trent AlexanderArnold and Dejan Lovren. James Milner has been shifted to right-back spot in place of Alexander-arnold. As a consequence, Liverpool are now missing Milner’s brute force in the midfield.
in the same boat as Liverpool a few weeks back. Injuries to key players meant they lost three out of four games and lost their top spot.
of Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne fully recovered, City have now won four of their last five games to keep Liverpool in their touching distance.
Marko Arnautovic, Pellegrini got the response he wanted in West Ham’s performance if not their end product and the Chilean was angered that Liverpool’s opener was allowed to stand despite Milner clearly being offside when he crossed for Mane to score his 12th goal of the season.
“They have two clear chances, one that is one-and-a-half metres offside where they score a goal, and one in the last minute with (Divock) Origi in front of the linesman again one metre offside.
“Of course, you must be disap- Won pointed,” said Pellegrini, who recalled a series of controversial calls that went in favour of Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund when they beat Pellegrini’s Malaga in the 2012/13 Champions League quarter-finals.“klopp is used to win with offside goals. He They have a two-week break in the league after the
Bournemouth game on Saturday. While they will face Bayern in the Champions League last-16, how successfully Klopp stitches that depleted defence before their trip to Manchester United (Feb 24) will decide their fate. UPCOMING LEAGUE FIXTURES February 9: Bournemouth (H) February 24: Man United (A) February 27: Watford (H) March 3: Everton (A)
March 10: Burnley (H)
While they are back to their full strength, City have a busy schedule ahead. Besides taking on Schalke in the Champions League last-16, they will also be in action in the FA Cup fifth round followed by a League Cup final against Chelsea. UPCOMING LEAGUE FIXTURES February 6: Everton (A) February 10: Chelsea (H) February 28: West Ham (H) March 2: Bournemouth (A) March 9: Watford (H) Drawn Lost Won Lost beat me against Malaga with Borussia Dortmund with a goal seven metres offside, so he can’t complain about nothing.”
Liverpool’s lead lasted just six minutes as the visitors switched off from a well-worked free-kick and Antonio drilled Felipe Liverpool 25 19 5 1 41 62 Man City 25 19 2 4 46 59 Tottenham 25 19 0 6 27 57 Chelsea 25 15 5 5 22 50 Man United 25 14 6 5 14 48
Anderson’s pass in off the far post. More lax set-piece defending should have cost Liverpool again three minutes before the break when Rice headed wide another wicked Anderson freekick delivery but luck was with the Reds on this occasion.
Bottom-placed Shillong Lajong scored a late goal to pull off an upset 3-2 win over over second-placed Churchill Brothers in a crucial match of the 12th I-league football tournament on Tuesday. Samuel Kynshi (36th, 45th minutes) scored a brace before Naorem Mahesh Singh (83rd) scored a late winner to derail Churchill’s title hopes at the JLN Stadium here.
As a result, Chennai City FC remain on top of the points table with 30 points from four games.
The talented Mahesh scored his fourth league goal late in the second half to ensure Churchill remain on 29 points, a point adrift of Chennai and in second place after 16 games.
Churchill did well to get back on level terms through Willis Plaza’s 17th league goal and an Anthony Wolfe strike in the second half, after going into the break two goals down.
ARROWS STUN MINERVA
BHUBANESWAR: Indian Arrows stunned defending champions Minerva Punjab 2-1 to notch their fifth win of the 12th I-league season and leapfrog to seventh position in the standings. Goals from Rohit Danu in the first half and Rahim Ali in the second ensured that Moinuddin’s 68th minute strike for the champions went in vain.
Rahim Ali was declared Player-of-the-match for scoring the second goal for his team at the Kalinga Stadium.