‘Confidence level is not extraordinarily high’ at Liverpool, admits Jürgen Klopp

“We had confident moments – Bobby for the second goal – but the passing game was not good. We passed balls all over the place, which we can only explain by saying we were not confident in that moment because of how the game started.

“We are under pressure, we don’t ignore that, we don’t increase it every day, but it is there. We want to do much better, have more points, improve in the table and then we are 2-0 down against a really good opponent. They always cause us problems here. They play between the lines really well. We have to keep working.”

The Liverpool manager said he could feel apprehension around Anfield and shared the concerns of the fans over his team’s unconvincing defending.

“You remember games here from years ago when we were only one goal up and it happened quite frequently that everybody was nearly having a heart attack because we were just not convincing in these moments,” Klopp said.

“It reminded me of that a bit today. I cannot say I was 100% convinced that we would not concede a goal when we were 3-2 up. Three-three feels like a defeat even though it is not.

“The boys can play much better. My job is to create a situation where they can deliver. For that you need stability and consistency. You get that with top defending, and we didn’t have that. They were really dangerous. I don’t know how many times I saw their offensive players just turning between the lines, it was horrendous, really horrible to watch.”

De Zerbi revealed he messaged the Belgium international last week. “I told him that he has to increase the number of goals,” said the new Brighton manager. “He played a great game but I believe he can do even better. When I say he can do even better it is not because I am not happy about his game but because I consider him a great player.”