Jurgen Klopp admits Rangers win was 'exactly what Liverpool needed'

Jurgen Klopp said the 2-0 win over Rangers was 'exactly what Liverpool needed' after he set up his team in a new system.

Liverpool have struggled to dominate games so far this season with them finding it unusually tough to protect themselves from counter-attacks.

That prompted a change in thinking from Klopp for the Champions league visit of Rangers, and his players rewarded him with a solid win courtesy of goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah.

While Klopp was happy with his side's defensive performance, the thing he was most pleased about was that Liverpool were able to tighten up without losing anything from an attacking point of view.

"It was exactly what we needed tonight," he told BT Sport. "A new formation, we had to change things. We had plenty of chances, imagine if we had taken more of them. Really good game. Very important.

"Two set piece goals as well - I love this as it means you don't need to wait for VAR.

"Unlucky in moments offensively, rock solid defensively apart from the very end. It will be a different game next week."

Klopp also reserved special praise for Alexander-Arnold, whose performances have been under the microscope more than most following a very public snub from England manager Gareth Southgate.

"There is no problem with defending - in good moments everything is fine - if there is no protection it looks like he is exposed," the boss explained. "We changed it a little bit today.

"We expected a reaction - everyone expected a reaction - we really want to turn this into a positive and for that we need consistency. For that, you need top-class defending and we had that tonight. It worked out pretty well."