Jurgen Klopp said there was “no explanation” for Liverpool’s below-par performance and claimed Leicester City “definitely” deserved their 1-0 victory.
The Reds came to The King Power Stadium knowing they needed maximum points to keep the pressure on league leaders Manchester City.
But they were made to rue missed opportunities with Ademola Lookman’s winner ensuring they will start 2022 at least six points off the Premier League pace.
Salah had a golden chance to put the visitors in front, after winning a penalty, but saw his spot-kick saved by Kasper Schmeichel, with his headed rebound hitting the bar.
Liverpool continued to dominate proceedings and Sadio Mane was guilty of spurning a glorious chance after firing over when one-on-one with Schmeichel.
And Leicester’s decision to throw Ademola Lookman paid off, with his strike beating Alisson and finding the bottom corner.
Klopp pulled no punches in his post-match assessment, accepting that his side’s performance didn’t warrant a better result.
He told Amazon Prime Video: “Definitely, it was well deserved [for Leicester]. It was a very strange game. We were just not good enough. We still had enough chances. What we did with the balls was just not right. We played a really bad game, so it was well deserved.
“Our decision-making [was poor], maybe a little bit of luck [was missing]. That’s how it is. We should have had more of those moments. We had enough to get the win, but if you lose you need more of the them.
Pep Guardiola and his City side will now have the chance to extend the gap to twelve points before Liverpool next play on January 2, in a potentially pivotal clash vs Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
But Klopp refused to be drawn on the title race, claiming the results will come if they continue to play their normal game.
“It’s a big gap [to City]. At this moment it is not my problem,” he explained. “If we play our normal football, Liverpool football, we have the chance to win more football games.
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