Jurgen Klopp was unhappy with his sides defending as his Liverpool side were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Chelsea.
Liverpool took the lead through former Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge’s 58th-minute strike, but would ultimately exit the tournament thanks to an equaliser from left-back Emerson Palmieri and a fine goal by Eden Hazard.
With the two sides set to go head-to-head once again on Saturday afternoon in the Premier League, Klopp has said that his reshuffled defence simply weren’t good enough.
“We knew how Chelsea wanted to play but we gave them too much space and weren’t compact enough. We still had the bigger chances in the first half,” Klopp told Sky Sports
He did however think that Liverpool were unlucky in the build-up to the second goal, suggesting it shouldn’t have been a free kick in the first place, while also saying at least two Chelsea players were offside, although VAR clearly didn’t agree:
“No, I don’t think so. The linesman is in a really good position. There was so much in the game. Unfortunately, in the end, we have to take it. We wanted to win it, we feel unlucky, we hit the bar.
“I think the first goal is offside. Three players are offside – two for sure. They watched it and didn’t think it was offside. We have to take it.
“This is good preparation for Saturday but we have to defend better.”
The defeat was Liverpool’s first of the season, having won all six Premier League games and their Champions League opener to date.
