Klopp: In some ways losing 7-2 better than 3-2

11:45am on Thursday 15th October 2020
By Martin Macdonald

Jurgen Klopp reckons that losing 7-2 in a game is arguably better than losing 3-2 as it presents a clearer picture of what a team has to do in the aftermath.

Liverpool were involved in one of the most bizarre games in Premier League history in their last fixture, as the defending champions were demolished 7-2 by Aston Villa, who only narrowly avoided relegation last season.

The Reds were absolutely woeful at the back, with their attempted offside trap constantly failing, allowing Villa to flood forward and tally up the goals.

Klopp believes that the emphatic nature of the result means that his players can aim to just quickly get it out of their system to move on to the next challenge.

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“In some respect I like it more than losing 3-2, because it’s just more clear," the German told talkSPORT.

“We could have lost that night 3-2, and then we come home and the boys go to their national teams and we have to analyse – and that is it pretty much. But this is more useful.

“For me it is very important that the boys don’t carry it around, because pretty much all of them had three games to play [during the international break].

“They are pretty intense games, important games for their countries, and you cannot do that when half of your brain is back at Liverpool."

Klopp says the biggest challenge facing his players now is recovering from the international break to take on top-of-the-table Everton in the Merseyside derby, with most players likely only having one training session before the game this weekend.

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“I wrote all the things I thought about the game and around the game so we could finish it for the moment, but the challenge now is that they played the last [international] game on Wednesday and arrive here very tired on Thursday, and we have to try to help their recovery," he continued, initially referencing the Villa loss.

“Then we have one session on Friday and we play flying Everton.

“That is it, that is the situation. We cannot change that and we don’t want to change it. It is another game.”

Liverpool are currently fifth in the Premier League on nine points, with them winning all three of their matches prior to the heavy loss against Dean Smith's Villa.

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