Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits he felt his side got a little “lucky” as they picked up a point in a scoreless draw with Everton.
The Merseyside derby marked the end of a three-month hiatus for both sides due to the coronavirus pandemic and was played out in unusual circumstances at Goodison Park, with no fans present and the Reds forced to change in the car park.
The resultant game proved to be something of a scrap, and while the single point takes Liverpool to within five of a maiden Premier League title, they could count themselves somewhat fortunate to claim that given the home side’s Tom Davies had the game’s only big scoring opportunity, striking the post in the 80th minute.
“It came out of the blue. We were lucky in that moment but apart from that, we were in control,” Klopp told Sky Sports. “We didn’t have a lot of chances; most of the time we were dominant but they had the biggest chance – that’s how it is.
“It was a real fight. Both teams showed that they understand it’s a derby – even without a crowd. It was intense, physical, all-in.
“You saw the derbies we had here before – they were never really better, I have to say! Each team is fighting like crazy so in the end there is not a lot of football. There is space for improvement for us here at Goodison; I like football when it’s slightly different but that’s how it is; we had a proper fight, it was intense and we were ready for that.
“The players were really in the game, so that’s good. I really liked our defending: the high press, midfield press, counter-press … good. We won a lot of balls.”
Looking ahead to a midweek encounter with Crystal Palace, Klopp wants to see more creativity and offensive effectiveness from his side.
“Of course we want to make more chances; we have to more clear in situations – pass the ball, shoot in the right moment, more crosses,” he said.
“The second half we started to do that better but Everton defended really well; they tried to take care of Sadio Mane and Trent Alexander-Arnold and we were not smart enough to use the space for somebody else. That’s normal when you begin to play again but a lot of things were very good.
“Now I know we are ready because you don’t know 100 per cent if we did enough (during the break), but we can involve fresh legs on Wednesday. So far, so good but I saw Crystal Palace yesterday and they looked like a well-oiled machine. It will be tough.”