Jurgen Klopp wants Liverpool to move on from a controlled Champions League win against Rangers that began with Trent Alexander-Arnold’s stunning free-kick.
After a disappointing 3-3 Premier League draw at Brighton on Saturday, the Reds return to Anfield on Tuesday in search of a return to winning ways against Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men.
Liverpool responded with a 2-0 win against Rangers that was more comprehensive than the scoreline suggested, with Alexander-Arnold’s excellent effort complemented by Mohamed Salah’s spot-kick.
The gap would have been wider had it not been for a superb performance from Rangers goalkeeper Alan McGregor on a night when the hosts successfully switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation.
“Good game, we played the game we wanted to play,” Liverpool boss Klopp said.
“Really good defensive performance in a new structure, created a lot in attack. The Rangers keeper made some really good saves and we missed others [chances] but i really liked it.
“The two goals we scored were really good. OK, one is a penalty, but Lucho’s pen movement was really good. We played well in those areas.
“Trent’s free-kick was outstanding and goals from set pieces are actually my favorite goals because you don’t have to wait for VAR. You can just celebrate them.
“So at the end of the day I think Rangers came out a little bit but it really put us in a situation where Alli had to save. But for that I really enjoyed the game.
“No disappointment [about not scoring more] at all. I really didn’t want to sit here now and talk about 4-0 or whatever – 2-0 is the best, it gives us three points. Let’s continue.”
Liverpool are second in Group A after an embarrassing 4-1 defeat at Napoli with back-to-back home wins against Ajax and Rangers.
The Reds will now look to get back on track in the Premier League, where a sub-par start to the campaign means they are 11 points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal ahead of their trip to north London on Sunday.
“Criticism is perfectly fine,” Klopp said. “We’re not right about our situation, let me put it that way.
“I do not think [criticism] it had too much to do with the situation. The game gave us this job.
“But tonight I saw a fully committed team. That’s what I really like and that’s what we have to do.”
Klopp joked that he has not been able to read a newspaper for several weeks because of the criticism – an approach England manager Gareth Southgate may have adopted during the recent international break.
The Three Lions boss’ decision to leave Alexander-Arnold out of the squad for the game against Germany has caused consternation and the right-back will be in the spotlight with every Liverpool performance ahead of the World Cup.
“He played a good game, especially defensively,” Klopp said. “A wonderful goal.
“We set it up differently. We can’t talk about this every week, but Trent has no problem defensively. We had a problem in defense – we hope we ‘had’.
While Liverpool are in a good position to progress, Rangers are yet to put a point on the board in Group A at the midway point.
Van Bronckhorst’s Gers welcome the Reds to Ibrox next Wednesday and the Dutchman hopes his side can learn from Tuesday’s defeat at Anfield.
“We are competing against one of the best teams in Europe, so the difference is there,” he said.
“It doesn’t mean you have to lose the game.
“I think we competed really well because the team is strong, we defended really well standards, which is very difficult because they take it really well. They have good headers.
“We will learn from this match. My team will learn from this game, my players personally and we have to take the experience into the next game and also into the league performance.”
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