Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted that the Reds won’t have a chance of catching Manchester City in the Premier League title race if they continue to play like they did at Leicester.
Klopp watched his side slump to a 1-0 defeat at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday night, with a single goal from ex-Everton winger Ademola Lookman securing the shock result.
That loss - only Liverpool’s second in the league this season - meant the Reds failed to cut into City’s six-point lead. The reigning champions will also have the chance to extend that cushion to nine points, albeit having played a game more, if they make it ten consecutive wins when they face Brentford on Wednesday night.
Klopp is still confident that Liverpool will have a chance of catching up if they play their ‘normal’ game, but any further slip-ups only make the task even harder.
"Sorry for that but it was not our plan to give City the chance to run away or whatever,” he said, via Sky Sports. "But if we play like [against Leicester], we don't have to think about catching up with City. But if we play our normal football, we can win normal football games.
"We have to see how many points we can get and we will see what that means.”
The Reds begin 2022 with a huge fixture against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, the day after City travel to north London to face an improved Arsenal side.
“Chelsea and us play against each other so we cannot both get the points,” Klopp said.
Should Arsenal pull off a shock win and Liverpool take maximum points against Chelsea, it would put the Merseysiders in a decent position to pounce with a game in hand. But victory for City and defeat for Liverpool has the potential to push the gap to a far more difficult 12 points.
For more from Jamie Spencer, follow him on Twitter and Facebook!
Source : 90min