Jurgen Klopp was delighted to end his wait for an Old Trafford win just when Liverpool needed it most, with victory in the rearranged match against Manchester United giving their top-four hopes a timely boost.

The reigning Premier League champions would have seen their attempts to qualify for next season’s Champions League seriously damaged had they lost on Thursday.

Bruno Fernandes’ deflected effort had put United on course for victory 11 days after the original fixture’s postponement, only for Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino to see Liverpool ahead going into half-time.

“We knew it was going to happen anyway, so there was no point losing energy on what you can’t control.

“Of course the preparation has been different. We’re not going to make an excuse of that.

“Everyone who has played at this level, at this intensity, knows the attention to detail is so important and that’s why we prepare in a certain way for every game.

“We couldn’t do that now but I thought the players handled it really well, but we haven’t got the result and haven’t got the performance.

“It probably affected them but none of the players were making an excuse of it.”