Klopp responds to pressure talk

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is comfortable with the way his players are handling the pressure of a Premier League title race.

A goalless draw at Old Trafford, their third stalemate in four Premier League matches, was enough to take them back to the top of the table, one point ahead of Manchester City.

Many critics viewed the match against United as two points dropped after the hosts were forced into three first-half substitutions.

But Klopp remains calm about his side’s situation as they head into another big week, which ends with the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.

‘Yes, of course there is pressure. Actually, from my point of view, it is a very positive pressure, but I don’t have to play – I only sit here and say dumb things, so that’s easy,’ said the German.

‘We all have to learn in these situations, the only way we can do it is with passion. This club, the heart and soul of this club, is passion.

‘On Wednesday night we have another chance (at home to Watford) and then there’s the derby, which is always a very emotional game so, again, passion.

‘I get that there has been a few too many draws in the last couple of games, but still, we are where we are, so let’s go on.

‘People can say ”Man City are doing better”, but we don’t compare ourselves with that because we have to get the points our own way.

‘There are different ways to be successful, and so far we were successful. That’s 100% true.

‘We know where we are coming from and we know where we are – now let’s make sure we use the situation as good as possible and then we will see where it ends for us.’

United caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was also satisfied with a point after losing Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and his replacement Jesse Lingard, all to hamstring problems in the first half having seen Nemanja Matic injured in training before the match.

‘I learned a lot about the players: Scott McTominay was a ‘Darren Fletcher’ for us, absolutely fantastic,’ he said.

‘Andreas (Pereira) has had criticism lately, but he’s had to come on and I thought he did fantastic, so I learned a lot about the character of the team.

‘I was very impressed by my team, the attitude, the character we showed in adversity, because everything that could’ve gone wrong in the first half went wrong.’