Liverpool fought off a dogged challenge from their hosts Huddersfield at the John Smith’s stadium after Mo Salah’s slump-busting early goal gave them a lead to manage.
Jurgen Klopp was a frustrated figure on the touchline at times and having been asked after the game by broadcasters BT Sport why that was he said: “The performance was not 100% for me. It looked like we could have scored 4,5,6, goals in some situations with one better pass.”
The Reds managed to hold onto a 1-0 advantage that they did have, in what was a scrappy game played in chilly conditions in West Yorkshire, to keep the pace with the champions, who lead on goal difference after a demolition of Burnley at the Etihad earlier in the afternoon.
That narrow lead was earned by a first goal in five for last year’s PFA Player of the Year Mo Salah, who has been criticised for his profligacy in front of goal this term, but it may be the zero on the other side of the scoresheet that holds more significance in the longer term.
It marks the first time in the club’s illustrious 126-year history that they’ve past the nine-games-played mark in league football with only three goals conceded.
That must be considered to be a notable improvement in their defensive rigidity that will be a tonic to Klopp and followers of the club alike, with both having watched their fair share of anxiety-inducing rearguards in red.
A Champions League home tie is next midweek for them, with the Serbian champions Red Star Belgrade coming to town, before they welcome Neil Warnock’s struggling Cardiff City to Anfield in the Premier League next weekend.
Coming in the week, as it does, that marks the third anniversary of the German’s arrival on Merseyside, another clean sheet and another ugly win will come as a welcome sign of the gradual progress of the team under his tutelage.
Liverpool leave Huddersfield with three points and their unbeaten record intact.