Aleksandar Mitrovic’s two goals were canceled out by Nuñez and Mohamed Salah’s equaliser, but Klopp listed himself as a “12” on the 1-10 scale of disappointment. “The performance was a defeat,” Klopp said. “The result was not a defeat but the performance was. That’s why we need to understand what happened. If we win today and learn nothing, it’s a lot worse than a point and not learning the right things. But it wasn’t us. “We started exactly the opposite of what we wanted. We’re used to more dominance and we couldn’t get it because we didn’t play well enough, not fast enough, not accurate enough.” Klopp was happy to credit Fulham for taking part in a highly entertaining game, saying: “Don’t take anything away from Fulham, they did really well.” He admitted Liverpool “couldn’t find a way to get into the game” and “didn’t feel good because we’re used to more dominance”. Fulham manager Marco Silva said his side “deserved more than a draw. I think we matched them from the first minute to the last. While congratulating his side on a good overall performance in which new signings João Palhinha and Andreas Pereira impressed in midfield, Silva singled out Mitrovic for praise. “It would have been enough even if he hadn’t scored,” Silva said. “I have to congratulate everyone from [goalkeeper] Marek [Rodak] to Mitro, but the job he did without the ball this afternoon was fantastic.” Aleksandar Mitrovic climbs over Trent Alexander-Arnold to head in the opener. Photo: Peter Cziborra/Action Images/Reuters Fulham captain Tim Ream echoed his manager’s thoughts, saying: “We knew if we could be aggressive and take the game away from them, it was going to be difficult.” As well as dropping points at the start of the season, an injury to Thiago Alcantara has added to Liverpool’s woes with Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Curtis Jones missing the start of the season. Klopp suggested the Spaniard’s hamstring problem would not be enough to push Liverpool into the transfer market. The Fiver: sign up and receive our daily football email. “I’ve said we don’t need a midfielder because we have enough,” Klopp said. “A transfer has to make sense now and in the long term. We have eight midfielders, it’s not that we lack midfielders, they just get injured. But this is not a good situation. I don’t like everything. We certainly have to think about how we will react, but not panic.” Núñez’s impact at least lifted Klopp’s spirits. “You need that extra, that difference,” said the manager of the Uruguayan forward. “He makes it difficult for opponents, [scored] a great goal and I could score another. He’s involved in a lot of situations, which is really good.”
