Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool’s defensive issues aren’t down to a lack of quality as he demanded a collective improvement ahead of tomorrow’s showdown with Burnley.

The Reds have leaked 13 goals in seven games so far this season and that vulnerability cost them victory against Sevilla in the Champions League in midweek.

However, Klopp says there’s been an unfair focus on Liverpool’s backline and is confident he has the personnel to put things right.

“Our fault is that with some things we give you all the opportunity to talk about it – that is our mistake,” Klopp said.

“It is a lack of concentration. Everyone who ever played football missed a ball in some situations.

(Image: Stu Forster/Getty Images)

“It is not a quality thing. It looks to me a little bit like a self-fulfilling prophecy because we talk about it all the time.

“Everyone has conceded goals so far. We cannot take out the five goals against City but if we could do it we have played a lot of games with decent defensive performances.

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“It would be easy to look at this team and say ‘It is so exciting how they play’ but I am not sure if it is the world in general or a Liverpool thing but it is always looking for one thing we can be angry about and not happy with.”

Dejan Lovren came in for plenty of flak after his error helped Sevilla take the lead but Klopp insists the danger should have been dealt with long before then.

“For the first goal we made five mistakes before the last mistake,” he added.

“The second goal was a quick throw-in and until he came between the two defenders there were already three or four options to avoid this situation.

“Yes, it is a defending problem but not a defending problem of the centre-halves because they can only defend what we give them.

“It is our job to work with it. It is not allowed in professional football to make it a confidence thing of it as that would make no sense.

“If there was a quality problem – and if there had been a solution out there – then we would have done it. But if there’s no-one and no real quality issue then you have to work on it and that is what we will do.”

Klopp has rotated both his keepers and defenders but denies that has contributed to Liverpool’s problems.

Youngsters Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold have been sharing right-back duties in the continued absence of the injured Nathaniel Clyne.

Klopp said: “In an ideal world we have 11 players play the whole season and never make a substitution but it is not an ideal world. We have to make the best of all situations and that is what we try.

“We cannot play Joe six or seven games in a row as he had a bad injury and is still a young boy. He’s still developing.

“Trent is not ready to play three or four games in a row – he should not be and that is absolutely okay.

“If we cannot use them for all the games, why should I think on the negative side and say ‘But they are not used to each other’. They have played often enough with each other.

“We didn’t concede a goal because of the formation or because they didn’t work together.

“Joe and Trent, these boys are our boys. They are so exciting I cannot believe and the only opportunity for us to make their development more difficult is to bring a shadow of doubt on them and ask: ‘Are they really ready?’ We can play them all.

“We all have to learn and then at one point everything will be good if we really let them develop. I am cool enough for this.

Klopp is ready to ring the chances against Burnley to ensure Liverpool have “freshness in mind and legs”.

Philippe Coutinho, Daniel Sturridge, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Milner and Andy Robertson are under consideration for starts.

“I really like what Sean Dyche is doing at Burnley. They have a clear plan.

You can see it in each game and they stick to it,” Klopp said.

“It is so difficult to play against as all their players show a big desire to defend all the situations and there is not one player in the team who you think ‘He gambles a little bit’.

“Their two away games, they got four points from Chelsea and Tottenham. Nobody should think this will be an easy game for us.

“That is something I have to consider when I think about the line-up, we need freshness in mind and legs.

“There will be really small spaces, there is not a lot of easy situations where you can out-play them. It’s about passing and shooting in the right moments.

“They were always on a really high level since I’ve been in the league. Maybe the best game we played against them was the first game when we lost 2-0: we were really strong in this game, had the ball all the time and they still scored twice.”

Sadio Mane starts a three-match ban but Klopp believes Liverpool are better equipped than last season to cope without him.

“Before the season it was clear there would be moments when Sadio cannot or should not play games,” he added.

“That’s why we reacted in building a squad to have enough options. Roberto (Firmino) has already played left wing, Phil (Coutinho) has played there and Alex (Oxlade-Chamberlain) can play there. We have more options.

“We could change the system, we can do a lot of things. It is always difficult to replace top-class players in a really good shape but we did it at the end of last season when we had to play without him and in most of those games we did really well.”