Jurgen Klopp Happy With Benteke’s Influence

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was full of praise for his side as they returned to winning ways with a 1-0 victory over Premier League leaders Leicester City at Anfield on Saturday.

Before Saturday’s encounter, Liverpool had picked up just one point from their previous three league matches, culminating in last weekend’s miserable 3-0 defeat by Watford at Vicarage Road.

But they were far brighter against Leicester and substitute Christian Benteke made the difference in the second half, slotting home Roberto Firmino’s cross to finally make Liverpool’s dominance count.

“Beating the top of the table is tough,” Klopp said. “A lot of teams have tried and it’s not easy, so I’m very pleased. It was deserved and I think we played a game we should play against these opponents.

“We did much better today (Saturday). It was difficult for Christian to come in. He didn’t warm up and he had to start immediately, but we knew if we concentrated that we would get our chances.

“We had a lot of patience and it was good. We deserved the three points.”

Although Benteke squandered a golden chance in the dying moments, shooting at defender Wes Morgan after Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel had gone up for a throw-in, he emerged as the match-winner.

Klopp said that he was happy with Benteke’s form, despite the Belgian striker starting on the bench against both Watford and Leicester.

He came on for Divock Origi, who pulled his hamstring in the first half, and never looked back.

“He did really well in the last week in training, but I decided this starting line-up because of the things you saw from Divock,” Klopp explained.

“Christian is a class player. Christian came in, it wasn’t easy, but in the second half he was much better. He fought intensively and hard for the team.”

Leicester have risen to the Premier League summit this season through a blend of commitment and teamwork and both were on display in a clash that saw the visitors scrapping for their lives from the start.