Coach Jurgen Klopp is arguably the most pressured football manager in the Premier League right now as his team, Liverpool, continues to struggle in the 2022-2023 Premier League campaign.
Ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Manchester United on Monday night, August 22, most football enthusiasts expected that the Merseyside club would use the Struggling Red Devils to earn their first victory of this season. Their expectation was built on the premise that Liverpool would face a disgruntled United side that had suffered two embarrassing successive defeats from two lowly rated clubs, Brentford and Brighton.
Recall that on August 7, Brighton visited Old Trafford and stunned the Red Devils with a 2-1 home defeat in a season opener that ought to be a promising one for United under a new coach Erik ten Hag. As if that was not bad enough, United visited Brentford on August 13 and got the worst humiliation of the season by losing 4-0. All four goals came in the first 35 minutes of the match.
Though Liverpool have not had it rosy since the season commenced as they have recorded a 2-2 draw against Fulham on August 6 and a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace on August 15, they were expected to do better against United.
Unfortunately, Jurgen Klopp faced a motivated Manchester United side that were ready to put everything on the line for their first three points of the season. The team’s tenacity paid off hugely as goals from Jadon Sancho in the 16th minute, and Marcus Rashford in the 53rd minute made all the difference. Mohamed Salah’s 81st-minute goal was inconsequential as United finally earned their three points in front of their home fans.
The hard-earned victory lifted Manchester United from the bottom of the Premier League table to the 14th spot. While the defeat pushed Liverpool down to the 16th spot, a point away from the relegation zone.
After the 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford on Monday night, coach Jurgen Klopp told Sky Sports that Manchester United were more aggressive than his team, adding that his team was not lucky.
“They were aggressive in the beginning, it was absolutely clear what would happen. Reality shows if we are ready, and in the beginning, they were more aggressive than us, they hit the post and it was a hectic game”, Jurgen Klopp said.
“Then they scored the goal, and we took over, and played the game we wanted to play, more or less.
“We were unlucky with situations, especially around set-pieces. I don’t know how one ball didn’t go in, in a game like this against an opponent like United it would be very helpful if we could score at that moment and go in 1-1 at half-time.
“Conceding the second one doesn’t help, and then we score ours, and then it’s a hectic game with a lot of interruptions – and not the result we wanted.
“Maybe they were [sharper], that’s not right of course but when we calmed down we were there. We had an extreme number of shots for an away game at United, we should use more of these moments if we do that.
“Even with our situation, but playing a little bit better, if we were a little more convinced about what we do we should’ve won this game. I know it sounds ridiculous, but that’s how I see it.”
🗣 "We should have won this game, I know it sounds ridiculous."
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) August 22, 2022
Jurgen Klopp's opinion on Liverpool's performance against Man United pic.twitter.com/CUYKgcb4z5
Jurgen Klopp is worried over his team’s injury woes
After the 2-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester United, the coach of Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp lamented that he is concerned about the injury woes of his team in the new season.
Note that Liverpool which managed to gain two points out of a possible nine points so far this season traveled to Old Trafford on Monday with a couple of their first-team players injured or suspended.
For instance, the club’s record signing, Darwin Núñez is serving a three-match ban after receiving a red card in Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace on August 15.
Other Liverpool first-team players like Thiago, Joel Matip, and Ibrahima Konate did not travel with the team to Manchester due to fitness issues. While Fabinho was left on the bench because he lacked match fitness.
Reacting to the injury woes his team is battling with, coach Jurgen Klopp said: “It’s obvious we are in a tricky situation injury-wise, we get through the week with 14-15 senior players available, we have to make sure none of them get injured because there are no real options left anymore.
“I’m concerned about our situation, it’s not easy at the moment but that’s how it is. We prepare now for Bournemouth, Newcastle, and Everton – that’s how it is. We can play better, we know that, but we had a lot of good moments and performances today.
“From tomorrow, we will fight against it.”
🗣 "I'm concerned about our situation."
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) August 22, 2022
Jurgen Klopp says he is focused on turning around Liverpool's form as the club search for the first win pic.twitter.com/qDUGJshkhP
What next for Liverpool and Manchester United?
Manchester United’s next assignment is to beat Southampton away from home on Saturday, August 27. The Premier League game will kick off at 12:30. While Liverpool’s next Premier League game is against Bournemouth at Anfield Stadium on Saturday. The game will kick off at 15:00.
