Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says he will redouble his efforts to get the Reds back on track after the shock 3-2 defeat to lowly Swansea City in the Premier League at Anfield on Saturday.
The Merseysiders found themselves 2-0 down but clawed their way back to 2-2 thanks to Roberto Firmino’s brace. And then the onus looked with them to go on and snatch a winner to collect three points and boost their credentials as a potential top flight crown candidate.
But against the odds it was Paul Clement’s side who grabbed the vital goal and leave Anfield with the most unlikely win of the Premier League programme of the weekend.
Klopp’s charges get the chance to redeem themselves partly when they do battle with Southampton in the EFL Cup semi-final, second leg on Wednesday — with the home side trailing 1-0.
And Klopp said:
“Mentally, here that of course is important I have no problem with this. That is of course a hard way, when you win 10 games in a row, you are flying and it is easy to believe.”
“When you are in the difficult moments, that’s when you have to stay on track and still believe, and that is what we see. As a team, we are 100 per cent and no doubt we still have belief. We will show we respect the EFL Cup and try to go to the final of course.”
Meawnhile, Klopp has defended his decision to withdraw Philippe Coutinho early in the second half to be replaced by Daniel Sturridge. The German coach said it was to protect the Brazilian playmaker as it was his first Premier League start since late November.
He explained:
“You could force it and say, ‘you need to go through it’ — but even in a situation when you are 2-0 down when you’ve decided we need to change things, we are really serious about things like this.”