Jurgen Klopp says he is happy to take a victory away from Hoffenheim in their Champions League play-off first-leg and has praised youngster Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Liverpool, who are priced at 17.00 to win the Premier League, put themselves in a strong position for the return leg at Anfield next week after claiming a 2-1 triumph in Germany.
Alexander-Arnold, 18, opened the scoring with a well executed free-kick, which found its way into the bottom corner after 35 minutes.
The Reds registered their second goal of the evening after James Milner saw his effort take a huge deflection off the chest of Havard Nordveit and fly into the top corner with 16 minutes left to play.
However, it wasn’t the perfect night for Liverpool as their defensive frailties continued to be an issue and Mark Uth took advantage of space in the penalty area to pull one back in the closing moments.
Klopp was full of praise for Alexander-Arnold’s ability from the dead ball situation and insists he is pleased to take a positive result into the second-leg.
“I told him he had to do it,” said Klopp. “He was the only one who can.
“He can shoot free-kicks better than I ever could. He is an incredible young player.
“I am happy with the result. “If somebody told me we would win we would take each result – even an 8-7.
“I’m not happy with the goal they scored but I think they deserved the goal for their effort over the 90 minutes.”
Leave a comment
Link Dafabet