Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reflects on draw at Anfield: 'I’m a bit disappointed at the moment'

Manchester United's Paul Pogba reacts after a missed chance during the Premier League match at Anfield. Picture: Michael Regan

It is a sign of the strides made by Manchester United that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was the more disappointed of the two managers last night, openly ruing a missed opportunity to move six points above Liverpool.

The defending champions required two good late saves from Alisson to preserve the goalless draw and stay within a victory of their north-west rivals.

The result left Jurgen Klopp admitting that, in this unpredictable season, top four will be a difficult challenge after his side made it three league games without a goal.

But Solskjaer, who seemed to spend large periods of the first half of the campaign answering questions about the danger of him being sacked, looked upon the draw as two points lost.

“I’ve got to be honest and say I’m a bit disappointed at the moment,” he said. “But we were playing a fantastic team and they had more of the possession.

“Still, you want to come here and, with the injuries they have had lately, you think you can come here and get a result. We didn’t, but a point might be okay if we win the next one.

“I know we can play better but we’re still coming away from here with a point which shows how far we have come in a year, or even six months.

So that’s a positive, you take the point. But I want to win every game and I can’t be standing here smiling too much.

“I think it showed throughout the game that the belief grew more and more. Next time we play them here we will need to impose ourselves more on the game, we need to get on the ball and take – not risks – but we can do better.” 

 For Liverpool, their remarkable unbeaten home run may have been extended to 68 games but the brutal injury list that has decimated Klopp’s planning is finally starting to bite.

The champions have collected three points from their last four games and helped create a league table which currently sees four points separate the division’s top six teams.

Finishing in the top four and qualifying for the Champions League is certainly not the formality that it has been for the league’s powers in recent seasons.

“I knew that, always,” said Klopp. “That’s always clear.

“Even when we had 98 points or whatever, I only started thinking about the title race when we knew we were in the Champions League.

“The most important thing is qualifying for the Champions League and this season will be a tough race for the top four.” 

 Not that Klopp looked like a manager in the midst of a full-blown crisis just yet, even if he is facing questions that he has not been forced to contemplate for two years or more.

“I can’t decide how people look at it and I know football fans are not the most patient species on the planet,” he said.

“But then I’m not too different, I want to win every football game. But I’m long enough in the game to know you go through difficult periods as well and this is nowhere near the most difficult period of my career.

For me, it’s not too important where we are at the moment, it’s important we have points and we’re around that group because the most important thing is the fight for the Champions League.

Nor is Klopp overly concerned about his team’s problems in front of goal as they look to recover from their worst such run since 2005.

"There is no easy explanation,” said Klopp. “They are not doing anything fundamentally different, it is just the result is different.

“There is nothing to worry about, not that we ignore the fact and just hope that it will be good again.

“The only possibility you have to score goals is to create situations and be ready to fail and then do it again.

“It’s not like I just decide, from now on I want us to score again and we will do it. But I see the boys every day and I will help them change it as quickly as possible.”