Jurgen Klopp believes his Liverpool team would have lost to Manchester City even if they had been reduced to ten men.

City were fortunate that Rodri did not receive a second yellow card in the first half for a cynical foul on Cody Gakpo, as Pep Guardiola’s side thrashed the visitors 4-1 to record their fourth league win in a row.

Mohamed Salah put Liverpool ahead early on, but goals from Julian Alvarez, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, and Jack Grealish turned things around.

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Klopp, on the other hand, does not believe Rodri avoiding a red card was a watershed moment.

“Could [Rodri] have got a second yellow? Yes, probably, but he will not get it now,” Klopp said at a post-match press conference.

“I’m not sure we would have won today against 10 men, to be honest.”

Liverpool struggled at the Etihad Stadium, especially after falling behind in the first minute of the second half, with only four shots to City’s 17 overall and less than 25% possession in the second half.

“I think around four performances we were OK,” Klopp suggested.

“The two midfielders, [Jordan Henderson] and [Fabinho] worked a lot, tried to close gaps, Cody especially in possession, and [Alisson] of course, then that’s obviously very difficult, if you want to get something from here then you have to have 11… 14-15 players have to be on top of their game.

“After being 3-1 down, it’s anyway difficult to come back here… we had one opportunity for 3-2 with Robbo down the left side… but apart from that City could do what they want because the spaces were too big, so we were rather lucky they only scored one more.”

Liverpool have already lost five league games in 2023, one more than in all of 2022, and face Chelsea away and Arsenal at home in their next two games as they look to reclaim a place in the top four.