Jürgen Klopp gives Liverpool title assessment and makes Champions League admission

Jürgen Klopp apologized to the Liverpool supporters for his side's showing against Everton at Goodison Park. The Reds title chances, he and Virgil van Dijk admitted, are as good as over, while this was not the way that the German envisaged his final derby in charge.

Liverpool went behind thanks to a goal from Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite before Dominic Calvert-Lewin rose above those around him to power home a second from close range. The Reds couldn't find a goal of their own as Sean Dyche's team was given something to desperately cling onto.

"Arsenal and Manchester City must have a very bad moment," Klopp said live on Sky Sports when asked if Liverpool can still win the title from here. "I don't know. I can only apologize for today to the people. We should have done better but we didn't."

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Klopp later told BBC Match of the Day that Liverpool's place in the top four isn't 'safe' yet. But while fifth-place Spurs now have two games in hand, the Reds are 14 points clear of them and still have to play them at Anfield.

Despite Mohamed Salah, Alexis Mac Allister, Darwin Núñez and others coming back into the Liverpool team, the Reds never really got going. Only the offside flag saved Alisson Becker from giving away a penalty inside five minutes and things didn't really get much better from there.

"These games are always a big fight and something that we shouldn't have lost in my opinion," Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk added. "But we did and now we have to pick ourselves up and be ready for an early kick-off Saturday." On title race, he added: "If you play like today we have no chance to consider ourselves in it."

"We were not good enough and we all have to do much better," Van Dijk continued. "We have to do much better in every sense it is a tough one to take. We are in a situation as we have been consistent all season and players who have come in and contributed. We have to do much better."

Liverpool.com says: The Reds just have to make sure that they do better in the last four matches so that Klopp's tenure doesn't end in a whimper. Realistically, they will make the Champions League places from here but it won't be any more than that. At the start of the campaign, that would have been more than acceptable.

The only disappointment is that having got themselves into a good position, Liverpool couldn't make more of it. Had Liverpool not been losing Klopp this summer, this season would have been as seen as a big step forward. The only thing that has changed that perception is that the manager is departing and won't win a second league title.