Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has hit out at Antonio Conte’s tactics at Tottenham after the Reds were held to a 1-1 draw on Saturday evening.
Son Heung-min opened the scoring for Conte’s side but eventually saw his goal cancelled out by Luis Diaz, whose deflected effort earned Liverpool a point but opened the door for Manchester City to take real control of the title race against Newcastle on Sunday.
After the game, Klopp insisted he was happy with his side’s performance but questioned Spurs’ approach to big games compared to their own league position.
“I’m really happy with the performance and proud of the mentality we showed against an incredibly good opponent with a gameplan,” he said. “We had to win and they sit back and do counter-attacks.
“I thought we had a few things today which were on a completely different level. The counter press was outstanding. They scored their goal and we had to stay calm and increase the pressure, so that’s a massive challenge, but we did it. We got the equaliser.
“It’s obviously not the result we wanted, but it’s the performance we wanted.”
He continued: “The dressing room is not flying in this moment. But come on, something like this can always happen. There are other games to play, we just have to keep going. That was always clear.
“I wish we could have won this game, but with all the praise for Tottenham, a world class team – they sit back. They drew against us, got results against Man City and Chelsea. The game plan works for these games but they are still fifth, so that’s how it is. Time wasting, these kind of things, it makes it easier for them. We wanted three points, that’s not so cool.”
The win takes Liverpool to the top of the Premier League on goal difference but the Reds could fall three points behind City if Pep Guardiola’s side can see off Newcastle as expected on Sunday.
