Jurgen Klopp baffled by VAR absence after Liverpool exit Carabao Cup

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp voiced his frustrations towards the lack of VAR after his side’s Carabao Cup defeat to Manchester City on Thursday.

The Reds came up short in a 3-2 thriller at the Etihad Stadium, which obviously has the facilities to use the technology, but a Carabao Cup rule prevents VAR from being used until the semi-final because it is not available in the lower leagues.

As a result, the Etihad officials were on their own on Thursday and Klopp argued that a handful of missed calls were behind his side’s defeat.

“The first chance of [Erling] Haaland, at the start of the game, was offside,” Klopp said after the game. “You don’t know? Yes it was. I tell you. That gives the game direction.

“It was like, bump, ‘oh my god, they are through’, it was offside, but no flag up, and it gives you a bad feeling.

“I would say if we had VAR, the referees are used to VAR, and all of a sudden you tell them not today. It looked like in a couple of situations they were waiting for it, or thinking there was still VAR. But there were a couple of offside decisions, where everyone in the stadium was convinced they were offside. We’ll never know probably because we can’t play them back.

“But it makes sense if you play a competition and everywhere is VAR, why not, especially in a game like this. I understand in earlier rounds it’s not possible on all levels, but this, City-Liverpool, all the technical things are here, so why shouldn’t we use it?”

Klopp also lamented Liverpool’s slow start to the game, admitting City got the upper hand as a result.

“It was a difficult start, first 15 minutes we had problems,” Klopp continued. “We know City have different ideas for different games and you always have to get used to it during a game, you never know what will happen.

“We were not compact enough, but we found a way back into the game, scored our goal, a wonderful goal, and we caused them problems as well.

“We should defend all three goals much better. Third goal especially, we are not switched on when they start their little routine. We were not in the right position, not enough players watching the ball. But we had our moments.

“It was a spectacular game, high intensity. A lot to take from it.”