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Jürgen Klopp said Liverpool cannot think of the title race in its current form after Brighton inflicted a second straight loss at home on the Premier League champions.
Liverpool are seven points behind Manchester City, having played one more game, and their coach admitted that his team does not have the matches or the level of performance required to be considered a contender for the title.
Pep Guardiola’s team will travel to Anfield on Sunday, but after 68 unbeaten matches at Anfield, Liverpool have lost two in a row and failed to score in three consecutive league games at home for the first time since 1984.
Following Brighton’s defeat, Klopp said: “The gap with City … I am Liverpool’s manager and I have to say we want to be champions, and of course we do, but it takes games for that and we need performances for that. and we don’t have that.
“We will fight for the three points, it is not decided who will get the three points on Sunday, but we have to play better and we will try. These gaps are not interesting at the moment. They are the result of the results we already had. What we can influence is the next game. Tonight was not enough. We know it and we have to change that. “
Steven Alzate scored a lucky goal for Graham Potter’s side, scoring Brighton’s first league win over Liverpool since 1982, but Klopp admitted that the visitors fully deserved their victory.
He added: “Brighton won the game with good reason, they won it deservedly. They were fresher than us, they did more good things than us and we lost too many easy balls. The best way to defend Brighton is to keep the ball and then be in control. We didn’t create much, and for me the team looked mentally fatigued tonight.
“That also leads to it not being the best play. It was a difficult week traveling to London and coming back twice. We weren’t fresh enough, which means we weren’t good enough to break Brighton’s formation and in the end they scored a goal and had other chances. They deserved to win. “
