Football
PA Sport 7y

Liverpool must keep on working after Spartak Moscow frustration - Klopp

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said his side "have to keep on working" after they were held to a Champions League draw at Spartak Moscow in a match they dominated.

Klopp's side secured a point thanks to Philippe Coutinho's equaliser but missed a string of opportunities to win the game.

The fielding of what has become known as the manager's "Fab Four" -- Philippe Coutinho, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino -- was supposed to be the solution to a problem that has seen Liverpool take 120 shots but score just seven goals in five matches since the 5-0 loss to Manchester City.

Klopp said taking a fraction of those chances would have produced vastly improved results and resulted in less criticism of the Liverpool defence.

But he stressed that his front four needed time to gel after making their first competitive start together.

"We have to keep on working, that's how it is,'' Klopp said. "We have to carry on, we have to create, we have to protect, we have to defend and then to score.

"Obviously we didn't score often enough [at Spartak], and that's a fact, but let's go on."

Defender Trent Alexander-Arnold said he believed it was inevitable that Liverpool would click in the near future.

"Each game, we're getting better and stronger. You can see that in our performances," he told Liverpool's official website.

"It's just the goals that are missing at the moment, but with time they'll come and we'll get better and better.

"We created a lot more chances than they did and had a lot more shots. We just couldn't get that second goal. We're disappointed."

Sunday brings a Premier League trip to Newcastle and a reunion with Champions League-winning former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez.

And Alexander-Arnold added: "It's just before the international break, so we'll try to go into that with three points.

"We'll keep fighting every week to try to get as many points as we can in every competition we play in.

"We've got the quality in the team to keep going and keep getting better. Everyone is improving with every game, and soon we'll be a force."

^ Back to Top ^