Jurgen Klopp blames 'dry' pitch on Liverpool's 2-2 draw away at Fulham

Jurgen Klopp blamed the "dry" pitch for Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Fulham at Craven Cottage this lunchtime.

The Carabao and FA Cup winners struggled against Marco Silva's newly-promoted side and fell 1-0 behind to a header from Aleksandar Mitrovic in the first half.

£85 million record signing Darwin Nunez came off the bench to score on his Premier League debut before Mitrovic turned Virgil van Dijk inside out and won a penalty that he converted past Alisson Becker.

Mo Salah levelled matters in the 80th minute to prevent a losing start for Liverpool. But the Reds, fresh from winning the Community Shield last week, weren't at their usual level and it led to another excuse from Klopp.

"The best thing about the game is the result," Klopp told Des Kelly of BT Sport after the draw.

"A really bad game. How can that happen? The attitude was not right in the beginning. We tried to react after 15 minutes. The pitch was dry, stuff like this. Really difficult.” [BT]

Klopp does have quite the knack for blaming results on other factors. In the past he notably cited COVID-19, snow, wind, heat and not having fans in attendance as reasons for Liverpool not performing to their usual standards.

He also claimed BT Sport ordered a game to end early, put two mistakes from Alisson down to "cold feet" and was critical of having to play Real Madrid in their B team's stadium a couple of years back.

Half-time interviews have been introduced in the Premier League this season and Klopp's promise to be highly entertaining.

Next up for Liverpool is their first home game of the season against Crystal Palace, who travel to Anfield next Monday having lost 2-0 to Arsenal in the opening match of the campaign.

They then host Manchester United in a huge clash on Merseyside on 22 August.