The mind games have started early. There are 12 days until Liverpool lock horns with Manchester United but shots have already been fired from Jurgen Klopp.
In the aftermath of Liverpool's dreadful 1-0 defeat by Southampton, Klopp was mystified as to how his side weren't awarded a penalty when Sadio Mane went tumbling under pressure from Kyle Walker-Peters in the second half.
And as the Liverpool boss launched a defence of Mane, he couldn't help but turn his attention to his team's ultimate rivals who are now breathing down his neck.
'I hear now that Manchester United had more penalties in two years than I had in five-and-a-half years,' Klopp said. 'I've no idea if that's my fault, or how that can happen.'
Technically, Klopp is actually incorrect. Liverpool have been awarded 30 penalties in 199 Premier League games overseen by the German. United, under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, have been awarded 27 in his 75 matches since he came in first as a caretaker manager in December 2018.
So Liverpool have had more - just. But under Klopp, Liverpool average a penalty once in every seven encounters. Solskjaer and United receive a penalty on average once every three games.
It is, of course, worth noting that a lot of those spot-kicks for the Red Devils will have come in the era of VAR, so the incidents that led to them would have been scrutinised further.
For Klopp, around three years of his Liverpool reign has been without VAR. The technology was introduced to the Premier League in the 2019-20 season.
Liverpool fell to a 1-0 defeat by Southampton when former Anfield striker Danny Ings scored with a smart looping effort in just the second minute.
Klopp's side never truly clicked into gear and they struggled to dismantle a defiant Southampton defence.
It means the Premier League holders are now winless in their last three matches and they could slip to second when United play their game in hand, against Burnley, on January 12.
But attention is inevitably turning to Liverpool's showdown with United at Anfield on January 17 as the two title contenders look to enforce an advantage at the summit of the Premier League standings.
Between now and then, Liverpool only face Aston Villa in the FA Cup on Friday while United have a gruelling schedule ahead of them.
They meet Manchester City on Wednesday night in the EFL Cup before hosting Watford in the FA Cup on Saturday. Solskjaer's men then meet Burnley the following Tuesday, where just a draw would take them top, before attention turns to Anfield.
Klopp admitted that, despite his belief Liverpool should have had a spot-kick, their overall standard of performance simply has to improve before they meet United.
'You can only solve a problem if you know the problem, and we are not blind to our problems,' Klopp said. 'We have to fight and play through this, it's up to us to change that.'
DamnItsLiverpool
423
Ok Klopp enough with this and take responsibility. Now that said, let's talk about about the the Mane incident and the Gini shot to handball incident. Truly speaking, VAR was against LFC on those decisions
Huzenry
411
please shut up. you don't need penalties to win matches. if players aren't working hard to get better results this is what you get. all these penalty claim should just end immediately the last whistle. it does not change a thing to talk about it when it's done and dusted. players aren't working for the team, yesterday's matche I only saw a few players with the spirit of wanting to get over the line and some were just a WACK! the manager has no problem at all those were his best possible players available to get the done but it was all to no avail. don't come here to crying over spiled milk. we lost the matche, just have to learn one or two things from that.
wiyikprsyz
371
how do you expect to be getting many penalties when you crosses in goals built up z from Anorld Trent or Robertson straight to salah or mane n it a goal but for man u most of their goals r created among the attacker's so just change ur game plans instead of complaining
Abdallah877
174
No matter how u try to distract or shun our confidence that won't stop us from beating u at Anfield Brunoooooooooo
Mankin
12
Ok Klopp enough with this and take responsibility. Now that said, let's talk about about the the Mane incident and the Gini shot to handball incident. Truly speaking, VAR was against LFC on those decisions
Grow up... VAR isn’t for or against anyone. Do you really think the Premier League, the biggest league in the world, watched by tens if not hundreds of millions of people, are going to blatantly favour one team over another? Just because you’re unhappy with a decision doesn’t give you the right to claim that VAR is “against” you. The Mane incident was never a penalty. I do see your point about the handball because the same thing happened in our game against Wolves. I was convinced we would be awarded the penalty but we didn’t. Earlier in the season, those handballs were given as penalties and everybody was crying. Now they’ve decided to not give them for situations when the arm isn’t in an unnatural position and people are still crying. And if you think his arm was in an unnatural position you must have never made a tackle in your whole life.