Jurgen Klopp Sheds Light on Altercation With Liverpool Forward After Carabao Cup Defeat

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has played down any suggestions of a falling out with summer signing Xherdan Shaqiri after the pair were seen having a heated

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has played down any suggestions of a falling out with summer signing Xherdan Shaqiri after the pair were seen having a heated argument as the Reds were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Chelsea.

Most of the talk in the aftermath of the game surrounded an exchange between Klopp and Shaqiri, a spat that garnered much attention as it came hours after Paul Pogba and José Mourinho's spat at Manchester United's training ground.

Jan Kruger/GettyImages

But the Liverpool boss insists there was no bad blood between the two after the match, claiming that their conversation was simply about Shaqiri's decision-making with a last-minute free kick.

"I spoke about a free-kick, the last one,” Klopp said, quoted by the Express. "We wanted to have Mo [Salah] a bit wider, so we had passed the ball to Mo, the whole bunch of players was in one direction - where we shot the ball, actually.

Klopp publicly attacked Shaqiri. Nobody is here pretending he has committed sacrilege. No talk of killing his confidence or embarrassing him. If Mourinho as much as fails to smile at a player, he will be accused of destroying the player's career. Outstanding hypocrisy.

— Babanla (@biolakazeem) September 26, 2018

"But if we can send Mo into a one-on-one situation in the last situation of the game, it would have been not too bad. What I said was about the free-kick, nothing else."

Daniel Sturridge had put the hosts in front on Wednesday with an acrobatic overhead kick, before Emerson Palmieri levelled the scoreline with his first ever Chelsea goal with just over ten minutes left on the clock.

Another interesting snippet with Klopp and Shaqiri; he’s just blown his top at him for going down and claiming for a penalty rather than trying to get back up and shoot on his left foot. 🔴

— Dominic King (@DominicKing_DM) September 26, 2018

The game was then decided in the dying embers of the match when Eden Hazard scored one of the best goals of his career with a mazy solo run, finished off by firing past a helpless Simon Mignolet.

Hazard's late strike ensured that Liverpool suffered their first defeat of the season, ending their otherwise perfect start to the campaign across all competitions.

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The Reds won't have to wait to get their revenge, however, as Klopp's side make the journey to Stamford Bridge on Saturday in the hopes of breaking the 20 point mark at the top of the Premier League table early in the season.