Jurgen Klopp pinpointed where Liverpool went wrong against Brighton as he expressed concern over the body language of some of his players.
The Reds raced 2-0 up after 24 minutes but were ultimately pegged back to a 2-2 draw against the Seagulls in their Premier League clash at Anfield on Saturday.
Liverpool were hugely indebted to an outstanding performance from goalkeeper Alisson Becker in extending their unbeaten run to 24 games – one short of the club record.
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And Klopp said: “We didn’t defend the half-spaces right any more. That was our problem.
“With the way Brighton play, because they went adventurous a few times which was the right thing to do with three up front, in these moments if you don’t defend the half-spaces well then the last line has to drop a little bit which makes no sense because Brighton play between the lines.
“All of a sudden it’s hard to defend.
“People still don’t respect the quality Brighton have. They might not win 35 games a season but they give in 38 games each team a proper game because the things they do are really good.
“We opened the door for them and we paid the price.”
Liverpool struggled to make inroads after Brighton drew level with 25 minutes remaining and are now three points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea.
And Klopp was unhappy with some of his players as the Seagulls fought back to take a point.
“I could see second half I was not overly happy with the body language of some and that's obviously never helpful,” said the Reds boss.
“You can get through these periods in a game, just not against Brighton because they were here to get a result, they got it and they deserved it.”
When asked why body language was a concern, Klopp added: “Don’t know 100%, but there is never one explanation. You cannot make a massive story of that because I said before we didn't defend the half-spaces right."
