Jurgen Klopp Wanted to “Punch Himself” for Initially Passing on Sadio Mane

The trio of Coutinho, Firmino and Mane looked their usual self in the buildup to all the moves but were unable to provide the finishing touch, which meant Southampton became the third team to stop Liverpool from scoring, after Burnley and Manchester United. We can not change what they do. For me, it’s not possible to watch Brazilian games live at 1.30 at night or whatever – when you wake up in the morning it’s different. “It is a good point and it is deserved for my players because of their attitude and their quality”.

Southampton were presented with a chance in the 39th minute when Charlie Austin was played through on goal, however Karius rushed off his line to thwart the attacker. “We tried to play good football but it was hard against this team”.

“Not bad first half, much better second half”, Klopp said.

The pair protected goalkeeper Loris Karius well and were largely responsible for helping their side to a first clean sheet in 12 Premier League away games.

“I shouldn’t sound too confident but I have no idea what they [opponents] think and I don’t care”.

“Momentum is something you can talk about after the game and then we can say we have to use the momentum again, but nobody knows how it works”, he said.

“I said to my boys at half-time, we have already played more the game we wanted to play than they could – usually they play differently, they have the ball much more, they leave two or three players up for counter-attacks”.

“That’s maybe something you worry about after the worldwide breaks but it wasn’t like we were off the pace”, he said. The only thing what we have to make sure is that it’s not because of us, that’s what I’m so happy about.

Klopp has had less time to work with his players this week, with the majority of them away from the club’s Melwood training base on duty with their national teams.

“The manager is a positive guy, a positive manager and he was satisfied with the game we played”.

The Reds created numerous opportunities in front of goal on the south coast, having 15 shots in total, but wasted a number of golden chances in the second half that denied them all three points. Despite Southampton’s approach, Klopp’s men prised apart the red-and-white wall on enough occasions to have won comfortably, and he was happy with the performance and “not over the moon but completely fine” with the result. “Since the beginning of the season, Virgil has been excellent”. “That is more than enough especially how big those chances were”.