Liverpool wanted the three points at Anfield tonight and got them. Job done?

On another day, this could have been a sparkling performance. The elements were there. The chances were created. But, for whatever reason, it just didn’t quite happen. Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp felt frustrated by the way things went and was fairly honest about it after the game.

“We didn’t finish our situations in the way we could have done”, Klopp told BT Sport, as reported by BBC Sport. “We had a lot of shots and some really big chances that we usually use. We didn’t do that and it kept the game open. That gave them a lot of energy.

”It was a good goal from them. It kept them alive. In the end, if we only score one and they score one it’s a lot of effort. Ox [Oxlade-Chamberlain] got that wonderful goal but again, we don’t finish the situation. The players came through but you saw after a while it gets hard to get that rhythm and at the end of the game it was not there. We got a little bit of trouble but not really. It was job done.

”All the goals we have conceded have been completely different. These things we can summarise so it’s not about defending but about being 100% spot on in these situatuions. We know that and we need to work on that.

”We were the clear favourites tonight. If we scored two or three in the first half nobody would have thought that couldn’t have happened. But it went 1-1 and then it got tricky. But now we are all good. Tomorrow will be a nice recovery day for everybody and then prepare for Manchester City.”

On the situation with Liverpool forced to play two separate teams in quick succession in the Carabao Cup and Club World Cup, Klopp added that “We will see. The final decision about the team line-ups has not been made. It’s not that we can play here and then there the next day. It’s not to be decided now. All the other alternatives were just no good for us. Now we have a little bit of time to think it through.”

Look, what matters is the win. No one will care about this performance in a month’s time. Three points in the bag and a strong position in the group. Now onto gulp Manchester City.