Jurgen Klopp: If football is fair then Liverpool will finish in the top four
Saturday 28 April 2018 17:48, UK
Jurgen Klopp says "if football is fair" then Liverpool will finish in the top four in the Premier League.
The Reds were held to a goalless draw by Stoke at Anfield on Saturday after producing a lacklustre display.
They now need a maximum of four points from their two remaining matches - one of which is against fifth-placed Chelsea next Sunday on Sky Sports - to guarantee qualification for the Champions League.
"I take the point," Liverpool boss Klopp told Sky Sports after the draw with Stoke.
"It's an important point, we need another three and we have two games to get them in. If football is fair then we will take these three points.
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"It was an acceptable performance, we can play much better, but we had to make a few changes."
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With one eye on the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Roma on Wednesday, Liverpool made five changes to their starting line-up.
Mohamed Salah spurned their best chance of the match early on while the hosts also had a late penalty appeal turned down when a cross hit Erik Pieters' arm.
"It looked like a penalty with the handball," said Klopp. "We didn't get it and we have to take that as well. In the Champions League against City we were lucky once or twice with the referee, in the Premier League not once so far to be honest, now we have to carry on."
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson was firmer in his assessment of the penalty claim, saying: "It looked like a clear penalty in play and I have just looked back at it and it's a blatant penalty.
"If he doesn't touch it with his hand then Alberto [Moreno] is there for a tap-in. It's a poor decision by the officials, so overall they have ultimately cost us the three points."
Klopp, meanwhile, declined to make any excuses for Liverpool's performance.
"It makes a massive difference if Stoke has a full week to prepare for the game and we have only one, because two are for recovery, but we don't look for excuses.
"It's our situation, other teams have played the FA Cup, we lost that early in the season, so we are not in the most comfortable situation squad wise
"If Mo scores the first one, if we get a penalty, it's the same game but we have the result, that's what we were looking for but we got the point so let's carry on."
