27 November 2023 , 01:05
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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has admitted his side are "still in a process" after their 1-1 draw with Manchester City on Saturday.
The result leaves Liverpool third in the Premier League table behind City and Arsenal, having made an excellent start to the season following a disappointing previous campaign that saw them fail to qualify for the Champions League as they finished fifth - 22 points off eventual winners City.
Liverpool completely revamped their midfield over the summer, with Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all departing and Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch joining as their replacements.
As a result, Klopp readily admits his side are not yet as good as Pep Guardiola's treble winners, despite things ending all square at the Etihad. Reflecting on the result, Klopp said: "I think we passed a test, I am not sure if it was the test.
"Last year we had a team that played long together and we got completely under the wheels here and had no chance. Today we had a chance. I am not silly: if you ask who was more likely to win the game it was City, obviously.
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"We don't check if we are as good as City. But if we had played really well, we could have won. This is a really tough place to come and it is a not a coincidence they have won I don't know how many in a row at home.
Liverpool drew 1-1 with Manchester City on Saturday (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)"They are a super team. We're still in a process. If we'd played really well today, we could have won – we didn't. I told the boys at half-time, imagine what it would be like if we were playing well."
And Klopp's comments suggest he perhaps agrees with Manchester United legend Gary Neville, who said ahead of the game that he did not think Liverpool were quite ready to mount a sustained Premier League title challenge this season but would be in a few years.
"These next four months are where the pretenders fall away," Neville told Sky Sports. "I don't think we're watching champions in Jurgen Klopp's team but we're watching a team that could potentially be champions in the next couple of years."