´Very concerned´ Klopp cannot remember worse Liverpool game than dismal Brighton defeat

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp could not remember a worse performance than in his side’s 3-0 thumping by Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday.

Solly March scored twice early in the second half before Danny Welbeck added a fine third as the Seagulls beat Liverpool at home for the first time since 1961.

The Reds, who could be 10 points adrift of the top four after Sunday’s games, were second-best throughout and have now started a calendar year with two league defeats in a row for the first time since 1993.

They have also lost as many as five away league matches in a single season for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign.

But this might have been the worst of the lot, with Liverpool leaky at the back and profligate in attack, giving up 16 shots and failing to net with any of their six. Brighton controlled the ball with a huge 61.9 per cent of the possession.

“Bad, really bad,” Klopp told BBC Sport afterwards. “I can’t remember a worse game. It’s not difficult maybe. Brighton were the better team, it was well deserved. They played really well.

“It was a very organised team against a not very organised team. We gave the ball away, the spaces were too big, and we couldn’t push up. That is obviously not good, especially against a super well drilled side like Brighton.

1 – Liverpool have lost a Saturday 3pm kick-off in the Premier League for the first time since February 2017 (0-2 vs Hull), ending a run of 32 such games without defeat. Abrupt. pic.twitter.com/yTmENcVRIT

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 14, 2023

“They got more confident, and we did the opposite. I can imagine they are very happy because it was a great performance, and we made it too easy in too many moments.

“I had an idea to change the formation, which was to try to help the team. That was the idea, but we never did it properly. We were always a bit in between, and that’s the worst thing you can do.

“We could have done better, but we didn’t and that’s why I looked the way it did.

“We need to be creative with the options we have. What I saw today from my team was that they were not really convinced by it. That’s it.”

Asked if he was concerned by his side’s display, Klopp said: “Yes, how can you not be after a game like this? I cannot stand here and say it didn’t happen.

“Of course, we have to be very concerned about it.”

In a separate interview, he added: “Doing better should be easy, because this is a really low point. I can’t remember a worse game.

“To improve that will be not too difficult. From this game, we can pick up absolutely nothing apart from things that do not work.”