‘I know it sounds ridiculous’ – Jurgen Klopp claims Liverpool should have beaten Manchester United

Jurgen Klopp reckons Liverpool should have won at Old Trafford on Monday night, despite being largely outworked and outplayed in a 2-1 defeat.

Manchester United news, exclusives and analysis

Both sides came into the match in poor form, with United losing their opening two matches of the season, while the Reds had drawn both of theirs.

However, it was the Red Devils that rose to the occasion, producing a vastly improved performance and richly deserving their victory, which came through goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford.

The home side were the far more impressive side, but Klopp reckons his team would have come away with three points if they had just shown more conviction in their play.

‘We are in a tricky situation injury-wise. That’s how it is,’ he told Sky Sports. ‘We get through the week with 14-15 senior player available. We have to make sure that none of them get injured now during the week because there’s no real options left anymore.

‘Even with our situation, if we played a little bit better, a little bit more convinced about what we do, we should have won this game. I know it sounds ridiculous, but that’s how I see it. We lost it and now we go from here.’

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

A glance at the statistics would suggest Klopp has an argument, with the visitors finishing with 70 per cent possession, more shots and shots on target than their hosts.

However, those numbers did not really represent the feel of the game, with Manchester United looking the better side for the majority of the match, other than when Liverpool threw caution to the wind in the last 15 minutes, when Mohamed Salah scored the consolation.

Jamie Carragher