Jurgen Klopp has fired a warning to Liverpool’s title rivals by declaring: “There will be a moment when we are the better side.”
The hard-fought 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford saw them slip seven points behind Chelsea, with Tottenham moving above them into second on goal difference.
The Reds had to watch Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal all register big wins on Saturday, putting even more pressure on their trip to Manchester.
But despite Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s late equaliser, cancelling out James Milner’s first-half penalty, Klopp is buoyant over his side’s position in the title race.
“I didn’t see the games until now,” he said. “For sure, Tottenham are in a good way.
“Arsenal, two own goals (against Swansea) but I have no idea how they scored the goals. City, didn’t see it (game against Everton). We cannot look at it.
“I think we are in the region of the table where we have to be. In this moment, maybe for us it’s a little bit more difficult to play our best because not everybody is available and all that stuff, but everybody could see we will fight for it 100%.”
Klopp welcomed back Jordan Henderson into the starting line-up, while Philippe Coutinho continued his rehabilitation with a lively cameo off the bench.
Joel Matip is also close to full fitness, although the club made him unavailable for selection against United due to the ongoing saga with FIFA over his international clearance.
But with important players returning to full fitness, Klopp is confident his side can fight back at the top of the table.
“There will be a moment when we are the better side – when everybody is back, in shape, healthy, fit and then we will see how the base is then,” he added.
“For today, the performance was absolutely more than okay.
“It is not usual that a team, like my team did today, do it in this situation after the game in midweek and all that stuff. I am fine with it and now we have to carry on.”
Liverpool took the lead midway through the first half after Milner’s corner was handled by Paul Pogba and produced a resolute second-half display as the home side pushed for the equaliser.
That would come in fortuitous circumstances, with Antonio Valencia offside in the build-up, but it did not dampen Klopp’s spirits.
“I’m fine with the performance,” said the Reds boss. “I always have to think about two things after games – number one is the performance. And, of course, the result too.
“When you see the line-ups and see the circumstances, you would say ‘A point at Old Trafford, come on, take it, go home and don’t think about it, well done’.
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t feel exactly like this and that’s because of the performance of my boys. Over the whole game, we were the better side. But then they came with the long ball, (Marouane) Fellaini on the pitch and that’s difficult after 75 minutes of dominating the game, and then having all the balls bouncing around the 18-yard box.
“We made this mistake – I have no idea how it exactly happened, but we could have cleared the situation already and then it comes back from the post.
“They were then more awake and used the situation. Then we had again two unbelievable chances and before that we had Roberto (Firmino)’s big chance, when Phil (Coutinho) came on the pitch. Of course, I’m used to it, I can easily accept a draw at Manchester United, that’s not a problem.
“But I think, over the whole 98 minutes or whatever, we would have deserved the win. That’s absolutely not interesting for anybody but it’s important for me to know about the attitude and character of my boys, because they played with a lot of little problems.
“We don’t make big things of it, but we had a few issues, smaller or bigger. And the boys did really well, so I’m happy.”
