Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho claims Liverpool deserve criticism for performance

Jose Mourinho rubbished concerns over Manchester United's possession stats at Liverpool by insisting Jurgen Klopp's side deserved more criticism.

United enjoyed just 35 per cent of possession in their goalless draw at Anfield - their lowest in a Premier League game for 13 years. Mourinho claimed after the game they actually had 42 per cent but match data issued by Opta stated it was 35 per cent.

David de Gea made two phenomenal saves from Emre Can and Philippe Coutinho in the second-half, having made a simple stop in the first period, but Mourinho was keen to highlight how little Liverpool worked the Spaniard over the course of the 90 minutes.

"Look, last season United won here," Mourinho said. "Liverpool had 14 shots on target and United had one. How many shots on target did Liverpool have today? Two? Two shots with 65 per cent of possession. You have to be critical of Liverpool, not of us, because 65 per cent and two shots, it is their problem, not our problem.

"I think the team was perfect. Even the goalkeeper was on holiday for 90 minutes but he had two big saves to do and he did."

Mourinho also felt Liverpool's decision to pair Jordan Henderson with Can was 'cautious', a tactic enforced on Klopp by Giorgino Wijnaldum's unavailability due to injury.

"We stopped them to play, but they also did very well by the defensive point of view," Mourinho said. "They played Can and Henderson for some reason, and they did that for 90 minutes, so they normally project more players in attack.

"They were very cautious, they kept always Can and Henderson in position, they had only one player behind the three more offensive players, so I think it was that intention to try and control us, which they also did well.

"I think it was a good performance, difficult match for us and for them and I think we controlled the game tactically and we controlled the game emotionally, and it's not easy to do both things in here.

"The result I think is acceptable, we wanted more for long periods in the game we thought that we could be positive but we didn't score and we don't score we don't win, but I think a very positive performance."

Liverpool make Mamadou Sakho available for loan

Liverpool are ready to allow Mamadou Sakho to leave the club on loan to allow him to regain his form, according to multiple reports.

Sakho, 26, has not played a competitive game since April, when UEFA launched an anti-doping investigation following a failed test.

The France centre-back was cleared by a UEFA board in July but suffered an Achilles injury ahead of the preseason tour to America, and Jurgen Klopp then sent him home from the tour for repeatedly breaking rules.

Sakho returned to training on Monday after recovering from injury but The Times, Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph all report that Liverpool are now open the idea of allowing him to spend time elsewhere rebuilding his form and fitness.

Klopp brought in Joel Matip and Ragnar Klavan in the summer to add to his central defensive options and, with Dejan Lovren well established in the team, Sakho’s prospects of regular game time may be limited at this stage.

However, The Times says the former Paris Saint-Germain defender, who was linked with Roma earlier this summer, “remains highly rated by Jurgen Klopp, who has been pleased with the 26-year-old’s reaction since urging him to show more professionalism after he missed a training session and a team meal in the US.”

Meanwhile, the Liverpool Echo says Portuguese centre-back Tiago Ilori is close to an exit amid interest from Olympiakos, Granada, Eintracht Frankfurt and Freiburg.

Liverpool set record in defeat by Burnley

Jurgen Klopp's team record highest possession numbers for losing side in PL history 

 

Burnley earned their first points against Liverpool in the Premier League with a 2-0 win at Turf Moor but the match also marked another unprecedented event in the competition’s history.
Liverpool lost for the first time to Burnley in five attempts in the PL and, as they went in search for a way back into the match, the Merseyside club managed the highest possession for a losing Premier League side since such data was recorded, from the 2003/04 season.
Overall, Jurgen Klopp’s team had 80.6% possession at Turf Moor.
That is also only the second time in Premier League history that a team has enjoyed more than 80% possession over the 90 minutes of a match.
The highest figure was when Manchester City beat a 10-man Queen’s Park Rangers side 3-2 to win the 2011/12 Premier League title with 82.3% possession.
Liverpool’s previous highest was 79.21% against Bolton Wanderers in 2009.

Highest team possessions in PL history

Date	Team	Opponent	Avg poss  %	Result
13/05/2012	Man City	QPR	82.28	W 3-2
20/08/2016	Liverpool	Burnley	80.59	L 0-2
02/05/2015	Man Utd	West Brom	79.71	L 0-1
29/08/2009	Liverpool	Bolton	79.21	W 3-2
04/12/2013	Southampton	Aston Villa	78.80	L 2-3
25/02/2012	Man City	Blackburn Rovers	78.69	W 3-0
09/11/2009	Liverpool	Birmingham City	78.58	D 2-2
21/03/2015	Man City	West Brom	77.56	W 3-0
06/04/2012	Swansea City	Newcastle United	77.43	L 0-2
20/09/2008	Liverpool	Stoke City	77.09	D 0-0

 *recorded since 2003/04