Loris Karius has said José Mourinho paid Liverpool a compliment with the tactics that enabled Manchester United to become the first team to deny Jurgen Klopp’s men victory at Anfield this season.

Liverpool had beaten Leicester City and Hull City 4-1 and 5-1 respectively in their two home matches before Monday’s flat goalless draw against United. While Mourinho accused Klopp of adopting the cautious approach by deploying Emre Can and Jordan Henderson as defensive midfielders, it was his stifling tactics that disrupted Liverpool’s performance and frustrated the Anfield crowd.

Karius claimed Mourinho’s methods were a tribute to Liverpool’s effectiveness in attack this season. The Liverpool goalkeeper said: “We knew we had to be patient because it’s going to be tough. United maybe waited for the one chance to get a goal, as obviously their priority was to stop our play, our attacks. They know we’re a really strong team, so that’s a compliment for us. Second half, we managed better to get through, but United defended well with David de Gea making top saves.”

Simon Mignolet’s replacement endured a nervous match and was particularly fortunate Zlatan Ibrahimovic was offside when the goalkeeper misdirected a clearance straight to Paul Pogba. Monday’s game was only the fourth of Karius’ Liverpool career and he cited De Gea’s stunning stop from Philippe Coutinho as evidence of a goalkeeper thriving after a difficult introduction to English football.

The Germany Under-21 international said: “It was a really good, strong stop which was unfortunate because he was the opponent and I would have much rather seen it go in. But credit to him, it was impressive. He’s enjoyed great development over the last few years and you can just see he gets better and better. He’s right up there among the very best in the world, playing at a consistently high level and is a top goalkeeper.”