Jurgen Klopp hailed his Liverpool side’s ‘very positive’ display as they defeated Tottenham 2-1 on Tuesday to reach the EFL Cup quarter-finals.
The Reds’ boss watched as a brace from Daniel Sturridge put his side two-up at Anfield, before a Vincent Janssen penalty on 76 minutes set up a nervous finale.
However, Liverpool held on to progress and are on course to repeat last season’s march to the final at Wembley, where they will look to go one better than the disappointing penalty shoot-out defeat at the hands of Manchester City.
We deserved the win, [we] created a big number of chances and [came up against] a wonderful goalkeeper from Tottenham. It was entertaining.
Jurgen Klopp
Klopp changed his entire starting XI for the game against a much-changed Spurs side and Klopp was pleased with the performance of the players on the fringes of his regular plans, not to mention Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ovie Ejaria who were given their first starts.
“Parts of the game were what I expected in a positive way. Parts of the game I could have imagined sometimes too,” he told Sky Sports.
“We lost a bit of concentration in one or two moments in the game. We caused problems for ourselves with late passing, but the overall summary is very positive.
“We deserved the win, [we] created a big number of chances and [came up against] a wonderful goalkeeper from Tottenham. It was entertaining.
“We created a wonderful atmosphere. No one could leave early because it was not decided.”
Meanwhile, Klopp also took time to praise Sturridge, who has now scored 10 goals in his past eight League Cup appearances, and added: “That’s his strength, he’s a finisher, a really good striker… no doubt about this.
“I never was in doubt about him even when he didn’t score. Not a question.”
Liverpool are now 7/2 to win EFL Cup this season, while holders Manchester City are 5/1.
Source: bet365.com