Liverpool blew the opportunity to leapfrog Arsenal back to the top of the Premier League table after being held to a goalless draw against Manchester United on Sunday.
Manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted his players are ready to “try” to win the Premier League title after missing the chance to get back to top spot.
The Reds were held to a goalless draw against Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday, despite recording the most shots (34) any team has had in a single top-flight game this season. Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate both went close for the Reds, while Rasmus Hojlund had United’s best chance on the counter-attack.
The result leaves Klopp’s men second, one point adrift of leaders Arsenal after Mikel Arteta’s side ran out 2-0 winners over Brighton earlier in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Aston Villa are level on points with Liverpool following their dramatic 2-1 success at Brentford.
With Arsenal next up in the Premier League for Liverpool in a blockbuster affair next weekend, Klopp offered a mixed answer after being asked about top spot. When asked about being in an ‘open’ title race, Klopp said in his post-match press conference:
“I don’t care… let’s [see] what it looks like in April.” He then added: “My boys today look like they are really ready to give it a proper try.”
On Saturday, fourth-place Manchester City failed to close the gap on the top three after they were held to 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace.
Pep Guardiola’s side are now five points behind Arsenal and they could be cut further adrift, with City not playing in the Premier League until December 27 due to the Club World Cup.
As for Liverpool, their goalless draw against United is considered as a missed opportunity in their bid for a second Premier League title in four years. Speaking about the Reds’ performance, Klopp told the BBC:
“The main thing I don’t like is the result, we should have won the game.
“With that number of finishes a few more should have been on target. It should have been more, but there were some things I liked. The counter pressing was the best with this group, the intensity and the start was probably our best so far.
“This today hurts, it is good, it gives us a lot of information as well and now we have to finish the situations off. Some situations were where we shot from distance when there was probably a player in a better position.
“It is okay, you need one goal and everything would be right. I can’t remember this kind of dominance against Manchester United as we did today. It was special, the atmosphere was special.
“We had moments where we looked like we were in a rush. We played a few long balls a bit too much. In possession, when we built with three, they had no solution. We should have maybe used underlaps and overlaps more but when you arrive the box is full.
“From a passion point of view Manchester United played a fantastic game, they put everything into it. When a team plays with this much passion you have to break the rhythm. The attitude today was top, top, top. I wish we would have won but we have a point more and that is okay.”
