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Michael Owen and Ian Wright tell Jurgen Klopp to stick with Alisson after blunder in Liverpool’s defeat to Leicester


Alisson had another afternoon to forget as Liverpool collapsed at Leicester (Picture: Getty)

Michael Owen and Ian Wright urged Jurgen Klopp to keep faith in Alisson after the goalkeeper produced another costly mistake in Liverpool’s dramatic 3-1 defeat to Leicester.

The Premier League champions, desperately short of confidence and decimated by injuries, looked on course for victory as Mohamed Salah beat Kasper Schmeichel with a cool finish but James Maddison dragged Leicester back into the game with a 78th-minute free-kick.

A breakdown in communication between Liverpool new boy Oban Kazak and Alisson saw the Brazilian charge out of his goal in an attempt to clear Youri Tielemans’ searching through ball to Harvey Barnes.

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But Alisson’s wild swipe of the boot missed the ball by a distance and Jamie Vardy capitalised to put the Foxes in front for the first time at the King Power Stadium.

Barnes’ 85th-minute strike put the game out of sight and consigned Liverpool’s to a third straight loss in the English top flight.

The Merseyside giants could be as low as seventh by the time they next play and a deflated Klopp admitted the title was out of reach at his post-match press conference.

The Brazilian has cost Liverpool in their two most recent matches (Picture: Getty)

An out-of-sorts Alisson is going through the most difficult spell of his Liverpool career so far after a pair of calamitous performances in the club’s two most recent defeats to Leicester and Manchester City.

But Premier League icons Owen and Wright are confident the Brazil international will bounce back stronger as long as Klopp continues to support him through his struggles.

‘We’ve catalogued all the unbelievable things he’s done so you’re not going to, in three games, with the mistakes he’s made, start thinking about new goalkeepers or dropping him,’ ex-Arsenal striker Wright told Premier League Productions.

‘He’s been so good that we haven’t seen him do this so what we’re going to see now is him continue to play and see if he continues to make these rash decisions or go back to being as brilliant and consistent as he was.

‘If I was being a manager as far as I’m concerned I’d tell him, “You’re going through one of those spells” and I’d stick with him. He’ll get through it because he’s a brilliant keeper.’

Klopp admitted Liverpool’s title hopes were over after the defeat (Picture: Getty)

Former Liverpool and England forward Owen added: ‘He’s one of the most amazing goalkeepers in the world, stick by him, build his confidence back up.

‘Tell him even through thick and think you’re our No.1 because you’ll get paid back in spades in the future.’

Owen believes the gap at the top of the table is now too big for Liverpool to claw back and said their top-four chances were also ‘under threat’, with competition for places fierce.

‘Liverpool have got to be looking over their shoulder now instead of looking up to the top,’ he continued.

‘No question about it, top-four will be a big achievement now because there’s certainly plenty of teams snapping away at their heels.

‘Leicester go further ahead of them after today, Manchester United are playing well at the moment and they look over their shoulder and they’ve got the likes of West Ham, Chelsea, Tottenham and Everton have got a lot of games in hand.

‘All of a sudden top four is under threat.’

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