Defiant Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool WILL bounce back from a week of bruising blows… as the outgoing manager insists the Reds ‘can still win the Premier League’

Jurgen Klopp has compared Liverpool’s title fight to a boxing match and says no matter how many punches the Reds get in their pursuit of glory to end the German’s era on Merseyside, they will always get back up.

Liverpool took three significant blows in the last fortnight including a 2-2 draw at Manchester United – a match they dominated – plus defeats to Atalanta and Crystal Palace, which saw them crash out of European football and lose a home league match for the first time in 18 months.

But Klopp, who has just six games remaining as Liverpool boss, says his team can still make it an outstanding season with them just two points behind leaders Manchester City despite a mass overreaction to last week’s defeat.

‘It is part of life constantly that you have to deal with,’ said Klopp. ‘It is never about how many punches you get, it is always how you deal with them if you allow them. That’s how we have to deal with the situation and that’s what we always did.

‘I don’t have a lot of qualities (as a manager) but I am always completely honest (with the players). If I don’t feel great, the players feel it pretty quickly. I cannot really deny or just keep it under the carpet.

The Reds crashed out of the Europa League after being beaten over two legs by Atalanta

Klopp likened the situation to a boxing match, stating Liverpool will get back up off the canvas

‘So that means after the game against Palace people ask, “What do you tell the team now?”. 

‘Wait, wait, wait. Give me time to think about it. But here we are a few days later and I feel absolutely great, I see the good in the situation where we are. It is fantastic.

‘What should influence us more – the last game, the last week… or is it the chance in front of us? I am fully (of the opinion) that there is a next chance for us and we can turn things absolutely around in all departments. We can still make it an outstanding season.’

The Reds stopped the rot with a 1-0 win at Atalanta on Thursday night – even if it meant they exited the Europa League on aggregate – and now they go to Fulham on Sunday in a bid to gain ground on City and Arsenal above them.

Klopp believes if they win all of the final six games, Liverpool still have a very good chance of becoming champions and ending his era in a magical way. Asked how much belief he has in achieving that goal, the manager replied: ‘100 per cent.

‘That’s not obviously in our hands, it is not about that. I think if we win all our games there is a good chance we will be champions. 

Liverpool’s title hopes took another blow on Tuesday after they were beaten by Crystal Palace

Klopp said if his side won their remaining matches they could still win the Premier League

While admitting his side had a bad week, he added that he was still ‘positive’ about the season

‘If not there is a good chance someone else will be. Maybe we only have to win five, but nobody knows.

‘Who would have thought that Arsenal would lose against Aston Villa? We still have to go there (Villa Park), it’s not one of my favourite away games. We all sit here and think, “OK, yeah, City will win all their games”.

‘That’s happened quite frequently but they have a lot of games to play and difficult opponents as well. We don’t think about that. We don’t think about them. It is just how we can make sure we start winning games again.

‘We had a bad week result-wise, not even performance-wise. We had good moments and had an awful lot of chances and didn’t use one of them more or less. That’s not great but the worst thing in football is not to have chances. That’s why I’m absolutely positive.’