Liverpool defeats Leicester 1-0 with Benteke goal

Liverpool ended a run of four matches without victory and to do it against the league leaders, who had not been beaten away from home since March, gave manager Jurgen Klopp great pleasure.

Leicester lost its first Premier League game since September in a 1-0 defeat at Liverpool on Saturday. It was deserved. We made the game we should make against this opponent.

“We showed we are a good team”. We closed the space really well but when they created the right chance they scored.

Kasper Schmeichel came to Leicester’s rescue after the 20-minute mark, as did well to keep out Emre Can’s strike, before denying Jordan Henderson at the near post. Divock Origi did not fare any better after coming on as a first half substitute in a display littered with errors, and as they know, Leicester will punish mistakes just as clinically as Watford did, so they must be ironed out quickly.

“Three of my players against two of theirs and Beneteke was alone”.

“We were too anxious and nervous at the beginning”, he said. They spoke about a little cramp.

Klopp confirmed Origi has picked up a hamstring problem, adding: “Hamstring is the s*** word for me this year”. It is always hamstring, hamstring, hamstring – that is the intensity of the game and fixtures.

“We will see. I hope it’s not too serious”.

“We had one of the biggest chances ever late on, six v one I think and no goalkeeper and then the ball was in our box”.

“We needed his speed today”. He did really well for us, so that was the decision. He made his goal.

“He did flawless in the situation”.

Leicester were not quite at it here, not quite as potent on the counter attack as usual and suffered only their second defeat of the season as a result.

“The players are very focused”, Klopp said.

With top four qualification seemingly wide open for Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham and who knows, Crystal Palace this season, finishing in that top bracket will be vital for Klopp who knows the Reds will be able to attract a higher calibre player in next summer’s transfer window. They’re only the third team in top flight history to be bottom of the league on Christmas and then top of the table the very next year, following Norwich in the eighties and Burnley in the twenties.

Meanwhile the visitors, who were defeated 3-1 by defending champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last Saturday, remain five points adrift of safety in 19th place after three losses on the bounce for Sam Allardyce’s Black Cats.