Jurgen Klopp happy with Liverpool performance but pins derby draw with Everton on officiating calls

Jurgen Klopp was pleased that his Liverpool team put in a good performance against Everton after a huge loss at Aston Villa prior to the international break, but was fuming at full-time after a succession of referee decisions, in his view, cost the victory.

Jordan Pickford clattered Virgil van Dijk early in the match, leading to the Dutch defender going off injured, while no foul was called due to an offside flag and no red card issued.

Richarlison was sent-off for the Toffees late on in the match, but a Jordan Henderson would-be winner in stoppage time was ruled out for a marginal VAR offside call which confused onlookers.

Speaking after the game to BT Sport, Klopp made it clear he was frustrated at the officiating calls, in particular the one for the late strike from his captain.

“The performance was top. It was a good game from both teams, we were dominant against a side full of confidence,” he said.

"It was probably our best Goodison [Park] game since I’m here. It was a draw for different reasons. [There was] more than one key moment.

"I didn’t see [the Van Dijk incident] back. I saw Henderson’s goal, Sadio pass and I didn’t see offside. Maybe someone can explain because the picture I saw was not.

“Richarlison is not only a red card on Everton. Thiago has a [problem], we don’t know how he’ll be. We don’t know what he has, but it doesn’t look too good.”

The 2-2 draw leaves the Merseyside rivals first and second at full-time, ahead of the rest of the weekend fixtures, but Klopp felt his side would have been worthy winners across the context of the 90 minutes.

“The game was good, I cannot say more about it, but 2-2: one goal we concede after reorganising, the second is an individual moment. Apart from that, we were superior and dominated.”

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