Jürgen Klopp conceded Liverpool had themselves to blame after slipping to a surprise defeat at struggling Nottingham Forest, bemoaning his side for being their own worst enemy after they failed to score despite a series of golden opportunities.
Klopp said it was often a case of “us against ourselves” after Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah spurned chances from set pieces for a Liverpool team who remain without a Premier League away win this season.
The Forest goalkeeper, Dean Henderson, superbly denied Van Dijk, who also squandered a golden chance to head Liverpool in front in the first half, in second-half stoppage time before thwarting Salah. Klopp, who made five changes from his team’s victory over West Ham in midweek, said a “super-intense” run of three games in six days has sapped his squad but could not fault his side’s effort. Thiago Alcântara was sent home from the team hotel with an ear infection and Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson arrived from the bench. Darwin Núñez missed the game with a hamstring problem but is expected to be fit for Liverpool’s Champions League match at Ajax on Wednesday.
“There is no real reason for it,” Klopp said. “How often did Bobby Firmino score from these moments? How often does Virgil van Dijk put these [chances] in the back of the net? We cannot come here and just expect to create 20 chances, [with] the way they defended. But we had seven, eight, nine, mostly from set pieces. It was not that they defended world-class and we couldn’t get through. There were moments, but we didn’t use them.
“It’s not that the boys didn’t want [to win], the fight and the spirit was there, everything was fine. Who can we blame for not finishing the situations off?
“It is a big blow for us because we came here and wanted to get the three points. You can look back and think: ‘How did that happen?’ But it happened and that’s it.”
Steve Cooper, the Forest head coach, hopes a second league victory of the season can prove a marker for his team, who remain in the relegation zone.
“I said to the players after that if there’s ever any self-doubt with any of us, today is a great reference point to say to ourselves: ‘Yeah, we can play at this level, we belong at this level,’” he said.
“Hopefully that will be a good driver for us. The mentality has to work even harder because we’re still nowhere near where we want to be in the league. If there’s any sign of complacency I’ll be right on it.”
