Klopp's farewell tour fizzling out as Reds fail to maintain momentum

LIVERPOOL, England — Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp's farewell tour could end with a whimper after Crystal Palace delivered a huge blow to his side's Premier League title chances with a 1-0 win at Anfield on Sunday, which left the German reeling.

"This one feels really, really rubbish. I need time to process that," Klopp told Sky Sports.

Liverpool appeared poised to write Klopp a fairytale ending in his last season before leaving the club after it won the League Cup and topped the league table with just two losses in its ledger.

But, Eberechi Eze scored in the 14th minute on Sunday, and unlikely foes Palace held on to hand Liverpool a third league loss of the season, and its first at home since October 2022, while ending its own 10-match winless run on the road.

The defeat was the latest in a string of disappointing results for Klopp's men, who have dropped five points in their last two league games and now sit third, level on 71 points with second-placed Arsenal, which also lost on Sunday.

Manchester City climbed to the summit with a 5-1 rout of relegation candidate Luton Town on Saturday, while Arsenal squandered a chance to go top with a 2-0 loss to Aston Villa.

"Of course you have to ask these questions — what does it mean for the title race and stuff like this," Klopp told reporters on Sunday. "I'm not dumb, I know that.

"The answer is pretty easy: if we play like we did in the first half, why should we win the league?

"If you play like in the second half, we can win football games. So if we can win football games, then we will see how many we can win. We have to be around when the other guys now struggle, if they struggle, so that's how it is. For us, obviously we have to win football games anyway."

There was talk of Liverpool claiming four trophies to mark Klopp's finale after it won the League Cup in February, but it was ousted from the FA Cup by Manchester United last month in a thrilling quarterfinal, losing 4-3 after extra time.

Liverpool's Europa League hopes also suffered a massive blow when it was beaten 3-0 by Atalanta at Anfield on Thursday in the first leg of their quarterfinal tie.

Now, its Premier League title hopes are floundering after a 2-2 draw with rival United last week, and the stunning loss on Sunday that saw it squander 21 shots to Palace's eight.

"For winning, as a manager you find a lot of explanations, 'This was great, that was great,'" Klopp said.

"When you lose, it's not as easy to find these things, and they might be obvious, but, it's not about now pointing the finger to this or that. The solution for us is to always be really together on the pitch.

"We got where we are because we were an absolute machine, and that's what we have to be. We planned this day completely differently. But here we are and, as I said, we have to deal with that."

Liverpool heads to Atalanta for the second leg of their Europa tie on Thursday, and then travels to Fulham on Sunday to try to get its Premier League title tilt back on track.

Reuters