Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp highlights issues with five players

Jurgen Klopp has argued that injuries are the significant factor in Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat at home to Leeds as his side fell to their first defeat at Anfield in the Premier League for over a year. The Reds’ boss argued he has been forced to overplay Harvey Elliott, Thiago Alcantara, Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez and Roberto Firmino as the packed calendar starts to catch up on his team. Liverpool were under the cosh early doors after a poor back pass from Joe Gomez allowed Rodrigo in to open the scoring in the fourth minute. Salah found an equaliser 10 minutes later with the Reds’ dominating possession for the rest of the game. However, they were constantly repelled by a fantastic performance from Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier who made nine saves over the course of the 90 minutes. The Frenchman’s performance kept his side in the match and he was rewarded in the 89th minute when Crysencio Summerville stole in to grab the winner for the away side. It was the first time Liverpool had lost at Anfield in front of fans since 2017 and the first time ever that Virgil Van Dijk had lost at home in the Premier League since joining the club from Southampton in 2018. Klopp argued after the match that he has been forced to become overreliant on five players amid a difficult injury situation at the club. DON’T MISS: Brighton 4-1 Chelsea: Four things learned as Aubameyang missed and two struggle Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has bemoaned his side’s injuries after defeat to Leeds (Image: Sky Sports)”Maybe some players are overplayed,” he told Sky Sports. “Harvey [Elliott] has been exceptional for us this season. He had a good start but couldn’t keep it going. Thiago has been ill, up front the same [players] play all the time – they are the three strikers we have left. We have to fight and that is what we must do.”He also lamented his team’s defending describing the first goal as ‘freakish’ after a poor backpass from Joe Gomez put through Rodrigo with a wide-open goal to open the scoring. “It was a set-back, absolutely. I thought we had a really good start then conceded a freakish goal.”We scored the equaliser but for some reason it didn’t give us the security back. We struggled to control the game and gave too many balls away.”In the end, it was two versus one in the box and they can finish off the situation. The problem is we cannot control this type of game at the moment.”MUST READ…Ukraine football match interrupted by air raid siren as players taken offGuardiola fires scary warning to Arsenal after Man City beat LeicesterArsenal receive Cody Gakpo transfer backing from Robin van Persie Leeds winger Crysencio Summerville scored the winner against Liverpool (Image: GETTY)”A team performance is always made up of individual performances. One leads to the other. You can watch this game completely, you cannot defend like we did for the second goal but we did, that’s why we lost. Otherwise, it would have been a point and we go from there. Now we have nothing and it feels completely different.”Despite the result, Klopp pledged that his team would improve in the coming weeks with the Reds’ now facing a huge fight to get their hands on a Champions League place at the end of the season with the Leeds defeat meaning they now sit eight points behind fourth place Newcastle. “We have to bring our quality onto the pitch and we fight against it. We had problems from the first day, injury-wise. Players have had to play from the first day. It’s our situation and it means we have to help ourselves, and that is what we will do.”WIN A FREE ENGLAND SHIRT FOR THE WORLD CUP! Want the latest Premier League news as we publish it on Express Sport? Join our brand new Facebook group by clicking here