Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted that he laid witness to some "horrendous" moments as the Reds drew 3-3 with Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
Roberto De Zerbi was taking charge of his inaugural Premier League game for the Seagulls, who went 2-0 up inside 17 minutes thanks to a quickfire brace from Leandro Trossard.
Roberto Firmino would hit back with a double of his own to restore parity for Liverpool, and an Adam Webster own goal would then see the Reds take the lead for the first time in the game.
However, Trossard was allowed to ghost in unmarked at the back post to complete his hat-trick in the 83rd minute, as Liverpool dropped more points early in the season.
Speaking to the media after the game, Klopp conceded that his side's defending was not up to scratch, and dropping two points in Saturday's game felt more like a defeat.
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"I cannot say I was 100 per cent convinced we would not concede a goal when we were 3-2 up," Klopp said. "They scored a goal - we should have defended all three goals better, there is no doubt about that, but in different areas; not in the last moment, already earlier we should have defended better.
"They scored, 3-3, and that feels again like a defeat even when it is not a defeat. We have to fight through this. The boys can play much better, my job is to create a situation where they deliver.
"We had much better moments and I think it was absolutely fine we went 3-2 up, but then we were not sitting deep, we were not attacking high, we were somewhere in between and that's how they got their moments.
"I don't know how many situations I saw today where the offensive players could just turn between the lines - [it was] horrendous, really horrible to watch.
"Again, that's the same job that you have when you are winning all the time, [it's] just more difficult because you have to create a situation where the boys react and make it easier for the boys to do that."
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Liverpool have now slipped to ninth in the table after picking up a mere two wins from their opening seven games of the season - 11 points adrift of leaders Arsenal with a game in hand.
"We are under pressure, we don't ignore that. It's not now that we increase it every day but it's there," Klopp added.
"We want to do better, we want to have more points, we want to be in a different area in the table - that's all clear and then you are 2-0 down against a really good opponent. That's now as well the truth, that they always cause us problems here.
"We had here games where we were running in between them and they were just playing in between the lines and stuff like this. They do really well and yeah, we have to keep working."
Liverpool will seek a return to winning ways when they tackle Rangers in Tuesday's Champions League battle at Anfield before meeting league leaders Arsenal at the Emirates next weekend.
Ben Knapton
