Reds boss Klopp felt Luton were guilty of 'wrestling' when defending set-pieces

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp accused Luton’s defenders of ‘wrestling’ when defending set-pieces during the 1-1 draw at Kenilworth Road this evening.

The main incident that the Reds chief was talking about came in the second half when a corner from the left saw Virgil van Dijk go to ground after tangling with Hatters centre back Teden Mengi in the area.

A swift VAR check from Craig Pawson cleared the former Manchester United youngster of any wrongdoing, with Klopp then getting a booking from referee Andy Madley for his reaction to the decision.

Speaking in commentary, former Reds defender Jamie Carragher said: “He certainly pulls him down, it’s whether van Dijk involved himself also, it’s six and one, half a dozen to the other.”

However, Klopp himself saw it very differently, saying: “I respect a lot what they do, but the way they defend set-pieces, if you watch it back, that’s wrestling.

"They don’t get punished so why should they change it? Fine, that was the discussion around that.

"We thought it could have been, not when they scored the goal but before, when Virgil’s opponent brought him down.

"I think it was a good point score in wrestling, I’m not sure, but that’s it.

"It was Anthony Taylor (fourth official) who gave me the yellow card, not the ref.

"I spoke to the linesman and Anthony didn’t like that, I was really surprised when I got the yellow card.

"I deserve a lot of cards in my life, but this one I don’t understand.

"It was a strange game, strange feeling, I think we should have won, but I think a draw was a fair result and we could have lost.

"Credit to Luton they did really well, but we created chances and didn’t finish them off.

"We weren’t calm enough and I didn’t like the first half.

"We had nil point nil counter press and that’s something I take personally too, because I know they want to do it, but the question is why they didn’t do it.”

Asked for his reaction to Klopp’s comments during his post match press conference, Luton chief Rob Edwards added: “He had a bit of a word, we’ve got try and be physical and make sure that they don’t get a free header.

"They’ve got real physicality, they’ve got some big old boys there that are coming up for set-pieces that are able to get their head on it and we’ve got to make sure we stand up, we’re strong and we try to defend well.

"There’s always going to be little bits that he might have a bit of a chew about, but I’m really pleased with how we defended those moments.

"It is a physical game still, I’m not saying to foul, far from it, but we’ve got to make sure we don’t just roll out the red carpet and go there you go Virgil, have a nice free header mate.

"Our aim’s not to do that, but he’s a winner and he won’t be pleased with certain bits.

"That’s fine, but we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do and find a way to get a result which is very hard against a team like that.”