Jurgen Klopp promises Liverpool will ‘show a reaction’ after their shock Europa League defeat to Atalanta… as Reds look to get their title charge back on track against Crystal Palace
- Liverpool suffered a shock 3-0 defeat to Atalanta in their Europa League match
- Jurgen Klopp has insisted his side will ‘show a response’ after defeat
- IAN LADYMAN and CHRIS SUTTON have their say on the Premier League Player of the Year – Listen to the It all starts podcast
Jurgen Klopp has promised a strong Liverpool response to Thursday’s shock defeat to Atalanta, with the returning Diogo Jota set to play a more prominent role against Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Liverpool cannot afford a repeat of their first home defeat of the season if they want to keep pace with Arsenal and Manchester City in a tight title race.
A bullish Klopp said: ‘Yes, we will show a response. I can promise. We have to show one, but the good thing about a very bad performance is that you can play better.
‘Unfortunately it is not the first time in my life that I have lost a football match. I’ll think about how to handle it.
‘I told the boys after the match to ‘take the defeat home’. No one will have slept well, but from Friday we will be together.’
Jurgen Klopp has promised a strong Liverpool response to the shock defeat to Atalanta
The Reds suffered a 3-0 defeat to their Italian counterparts in Thursday’s match
The only positive from a miserable evening at Anfield was the return of Jota, who looked lively as he came on as a late substitute for his first action since suffering a knee injury at Brentford on February 17.
‘Diogo actually didn’t have more than two training sessions, but the information from the medical department said: ‘Step forward’, so now he can play a little longer.
‘We need all the players and we need them all: aggressive, fit, going for it, a bit angry, full of desire, that kind of thing.
‘I think Diogo was absolutely fine for his 20 minutes against Atalanta. It has helped him enormously and now we will see what we can do from there.’
Trent Alexander-Arnold was also on the bench after his two-month layoff but did not feature.
Curtis Jones, in his first start since also picking up an injury at Brentford, was withdrawn at half-time on Thursday after struggling with the intensity.
‘Curtis has been our fittest player for most of the season and has played like crazy for 90 minutes. After twenty minutes he was surprised by the intensity and that is why we replaced him during half time. We didn’t have to force him through it.’
