'Salah knows he can play better' - Form of no concern to Klopp as Liverpool boss shrugs off title pressure

Jurgen Klopp is “not worried” about Mohamed Salah’s disappointing showing against Manchester United and claims to be embracing the pressure of Liverpool’s Premier League title bid.

The Reds moved back to the top of the table on Sunday with a goalless draw at Old Trafford.

It had been their intention to make more of their game in hand on defending champions Manchester City, but a one-point advantage is now held at the summit.

Liverpool struggled to muster much of an attacking threat on their most recent outing, with Roberto Firmino picking up an unfortunate injury.

Sadio Mane was uncharacteristically out of sorts, while 20-goal top scorer Salah saw his wait for a telling contribution against United extended as he was replaced 11 minutes from the end.

Klopp said of the Egyptian’s showing: “Mo knows he can play better than he did today, but I am not worried about him.

“Two weeks ago, when we played against Bournemouth, that was amazing. Today obviously, [Victor] Lindelof and [Luke] Shaw together did a pretty good job.

“I am not here to be disappointed, I am here to help the players to play their best football.”

Salah had spoken in the build-up to the meeting with United of Liverpool feeling the pressure of trying to deliver a first top-flight title in 29 years.

Klopp claims that expectation is not weighing heavy on him, but the German concedes that his role is markedly different from those being thrust into the heat of battle.

He said: “Mo said this week in an interview 'there is pressure' and of course there is pressure.

“Actually, from my point of view it is a very positive pressure, but I don't have to play. I only sit here and say dumb things, so that's easy.

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“We all have to learn in these situations, the only way we can do it is with passion. This club, the heart and soul of this club, is passion. On Wednesday night we have another chance [against Watford] and then there's the derby [against Everton], which is always a very emotional game so again passion.

“We had to fight, but it was a different fight to what we expected and we didn't adapt exactly like we should have.

“We know where we are coming from and we know where we are. Now let's make sure we use the situation as good as possible and then we will see where it ends for us.

“Today was not brilliant, but we've lost here more often than we've drawn. Today we drew, we have a point but it feels like we should have won – that was the same against Bayern.

“It shows where you're coming from when Bayern plays against you and defends with all they have. Something changed in the world of football, everybody adapted to it and now we have to make sure we adapt as well to our quality.

“Nothing really serious happened today; we came here, we wanted to win that game with all the talk around and stuff like that about United being in a fantastic moment.

“They are, that's true but they still have 14 points less than we have. The good news about today is that didn't change so let's carry on.

“We take that point, it's one more than a lot of people probably expected. So now everything is equal games-wise, and now let's play the rest of the season. All good.”