Liverpool are ‘running out of energy’ and ‘hangover’ since their FA Cup exit to Man United… but Chris Sutton insists it all starts they ‘MUST go bust’ at Atalanta
Chris Sutton fears Liverpool are starting to run out of energy in the final stretch of the season, but believes Jurgen Klopp must “go for broke” against Atalanta in the Europa League.
Their title hopes were further dented when they suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at Anfield – their first home league defeat in 29 matches.
This is their second consecutive defeat, and the fourth time in their last six outings in all competitions that they have failed to win. They will next face Atalanta in the Europa League quarter-finals, needing to overturn a 3-0 deficit in Italy from the first leg.
Speaking on the It’s All Kicking Off podcast, Chris Sutton and Mail Sport football editor Ian Ladyman said Liverpool were “running out of energy” at the wrong time and had a hangover from their FA Cup exit to rivals Manchester United last month.
Sutton, a former Blackburn, Norwich and Chelsea striker, said: “I I don’t know what the biggest shock was yesterday, but I didn’t see Palace go to Anfield and topple Liverpool. I didn’t see that in the script at all. It was a shock.
Liverpool’s title aspirations were significantly reduced in a shock home defeat to Crystal Palace.
Jurgen Klopp’s side appear to have lost their form at the worst possible time and will next face Atalanta in Italy, needing one to overturn a 3-0 deficit to advance in the Europa League.
Chris Sutton thinks Klopp must ‘go all out’ against Atalanta despite falling two points behind Manchester City in Premier League title race
“It seems that Liverpool, at just the wrong time, are running out of energy. Mohamed Salah, since returning from injury, doesn’t seem the same.
“I wonder if there’s a ripple effect. Once again, it’s very difficult to say but it seems that there is a leftover from the defeat against Atalanta. who absolutely spanked Liverpool at Anfield on Thursday night.
“It looked like there was a hangover from that, a poor performance in the first half, and they huffed and they huffed and they (and found) this season, but listening to Klopp afterwards, it’s like, and you’ll know this better than Anybody, normally at press conferences or when they’re talking to the media, they’re pretty nervous when their team loses.
“It looked like he was so flat and depressed and it’s going to be a horrible end to the season for Liverpool if they don’t get back on straight away.”
Ladyman added: “So Yesterday’s result was, according to you, a hangover from the defeat against Atalanta, which in itself was a hangover from the draw against Manchester United in the league, which in itself was a hangover from the defeat of the FA Cup against Manchester United. So there you have it, that’s a lot of hangovers.
Liverpool next face Atalanta in the Europa League on Thursday night as they look to overturn a 3-0 deficit in Italy.
They then begin a tricky run of three consecutive away matches in the Premier League, starting with Fulham on Sunday, the Merseyside Derby on April 24 and West Ham on April 27.
Liverpool are currently two points behind Manchester City in the Premier League, but play twice before Pep Guardiola’s side are next in the league.
Liverpool have failed to win four of their last six games, a run that began with their chaotic 4-3 FA Cup exit to rivals Manchester United.
Mail Sport football editor Ian Ladyman says Liverpool have ‘hangover’ from FA Cup exit
Mohamed Salah (right) hasn’t looked the same for Liverpool since returning from injury
Ladyman asked Sutton if Liverpool should play an understrength team in the Europa League and focus their attention on Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Sutton replied: “I think about the nature of Jurgen Klopp, he will go hard. He has to because he might as well try to win it all. And being involved in so many competitions may have caught up with Liverpool.
“But the fact that they lost to Palace, if they had beaten Palace, then maybe he could have thought along those lines, we’ll go for the Premier League, because we’re still in the driver’s seat of that. But now he has to go bankrupt.
Ladyman debated it by suggesting: “I He would go to the reserves at Atlanta and then hope that his first team can make a statement at Fulham next weekend, because you have to understand that if they beat Fulham, they will be ahead of City again.
“They are ahead of City. Psychologically, this could give them a point of support.
Liverpool missed numerous chances against Crystal Palace on Sunday, with the likes of Darwin Nunez, Salah, Jota and Curtis Jones missing.
Ian Ladyman, meanwhile, suggested Klopp was making excuses for striker Darwin Nunez’s misses.
Ladyman, said that despite his “admiration and vague obsession with Nunez”, he believes Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is making “excuses” for him.
He said: ‘The chance he missed yesterday, a bouncing ball on the six-yard line, hooked him goalwards straight at Crystal Palace keeper Dean Henderson.
” Jurgen Klopp then said: What could Darwin have done with his luck? In other words, he couldn’t have done better. Yes, he could. He could have headed it into the corner of the goal. And I wonder simply, and we’ve said it before, when the penny drops with Nunez, you just have to be cuter sometimes.
Sutton added: “Nunez is not mortal. It’s a handful, but it’s not deadly. I read this stat about him last night: Darwin Nunez has the worst big chance conversion rate among Europe’s top five leagues. And you know, you think about that, you think about the level of Manchester City, the standards that Arsenal have set. You want to win a Premier League, you have to take these opportunities.
