Klopp refuses to defend 'horrible' Liverpool display at Wolves

Jurgen Klopp refused to defend his players after wretched Liverpool were thumped 3-0 at Wolves.

Joel Matip's own goal set the tone for an awful defeat as the hosts raced into a 2-0 lead inside 12 minutes.

Craig Dawson grabbed a debut goal and Ruben Neves piled on the misery with Wolves - for whom Joe Hodge was an unused sub - recording their biggest win for almost a year.

Liverpool are languishing in 10th in the Premier League having lost three straight top-flight away games for the first time since 2012.

They now host Everton before travelling to Newcastle and then welcome Real Madrid in the Champions League with their season hanging by a thread.

"Today was the pinnacle of our problems," said boss Klopp. "In a game like this it is absolutely not allowed. You can criticise, judge us and you are probably right. These first 12 minutes are not allowed.

"The start to the game was horrible. It was the opposite of what we should do. I can't explain it, it cannot happen. We caused the problems ourselves. We do it in public, that's why everyone can see.

"How can I not be concerned? I cannot sit here and think we did well. The first 12 minutes is not allowed and we did it anyway.

"I don't think they are their best at the moment but I know how good they are. These things happen because we cannot help ourselves in this moment. I don't lose confidence in the boys but I see where we have to improve.

"It makes it typical of the situation. At the moment it's always if, if if.

"The team is not full of confidence, you can see that, but the first 12 minutes is about defending, being compact and active. Do you need a lot of confidence for that? I'm not so sure."

Matip turned Hwang Hee-chan's cross into his own net after five minutes and it only got