A frustrating defeat against Brighton ended Liverpool’s hopes of defending the title.
Jurgen Klopp has apologized to Liverpool fans who travelled to Brighton to watch their defeat in the FA Cup.
The Reds went ahead when Harvey Elliot scored their opener just before the half-hour mark. But Brighton came back with an instant equalizer from Lewis Dunk.
Klopp’s men made several chances to score the match-winner throughout the second period. But a late goal from Kaoru Mitoma won the match for the hosts at Falmer Stadium.
Speaking after the game, Klopp said: “I am very sorry, probably a lot of Liverpool fans are from Brighton.
“So they saw us now twice in two weeks. They were brilliant, absolutely brilliant again. Today we paid a little bit back, I would say.
“They saw a goal, they saw chances, so it was better.”
Liverpool suffered a 3-0 defeat against Brighton last week in the Premier League. Klopp described that match as the “worst game” of his entire career. But the German coach has a more positive view of his side’s latest display.
“There were, again, steps in the right direction,” Klopp said.
“You can imagine nobody wants to hear that anymore, I cannot hear it anymore. But it’s still right. That means we have to go from there.
“The set-up for the first half was really good. Cody helped us massively with the ball, without the ball, in the centre.
“Harvey on the left-wing, defensively we can really use him, he is really in there.”
Speaking on BBC, Klopp added: “It doesn’t feel great. In time we might see the positives but we wanted to get the next round. Congratulations to Brighton.”
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