Mohamed Salah missed a penalty as Liverpool were left stunned after they conceded a narrow 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Klopp’s squad traveled to Dean Court in high spirits following last weekend’s historic 7-0 thrashing of bitter rivals Manchester United.
On the south coast, Liverpool’s hopes of using that remarkable result as a springboard to finish in the Premier League’s top four were brutally dashed.
Philip Billing capitalized on shoddy Liverpool defending to give the struggling hosts an early lead, and Salah missed a second-half penalty kick opportunity to tie the game.
When he scored twice against United, Salah became Liverpool’s all-time Premier League record scorer.
The inability of the Egypt international to add to his total of 130 runs resulted in Liverpool’s first league loss in six matches.
Fifth-placed Liverpool appeared to have scored all of their goals in the United rout, and their toothless performance has put them three points behind Tottenham ahead of the north Londoners’ match against Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening.
“There is a lot to go for but today is not the moment to talk about that,” Klopp said.
“This game was a massive knock. You know how it is with knocks, you have to take them and see how big the scars are and go from there.”
It was hardly ideal preparation for Wednesday’s Champions League round of 16 second leg at Real Madrid, where the Reds will need a miracle to overcome a 5-2 deficit and advance.
Losing to a Bournemouth team that began the day at the bottom of the table and lost 9-0 at Liverpool in August was the latest embarrassment for Klopp’s squad, which has also suffered shocking defeats to Brighton, Brentford, and Wolves.
Liverpool have won just three of their 13 games away from Anfield and Klopp said: “Concerned? Yes, I see it.
“It was a big strength for us in the last year, it made a real difference, but that is how it is.
“We get a penalty, miss the penalty and it looked a little bit for me that if we score there it would give us a proper boost but we didn’t. It’s very frustrating.”
