Xherdan Shaqiri insists Liverpool did not deserve FA Cup exit

Liverpool attacker Xherdan Shaqiri has said that the Reds did not deserve to exit the FA Cup against Wolverhampton Wanderers without a replay. Jurgen Klopp decided to field a weakened team over the weekend amid the Reds’ Premier League challenge and the move eventually proved costly with the club being ousted from the FA Cup at the third round.

Speaking after the game, Shaqiri admitted that the players are disappointed by the outcome of the Cup tie and believes the team deserved at least a replay with the effort shown during the backend of the encounter, he told the club’s official website: “Of course, we are disappointed after this game because we lost, first of all, but I think we didn't deserve this result because we tried to play football. We tried to come back. We tried everything until the end and you cannot say the attitude wasn't there until the last minute - we tried everything. Sometimes you need luck also and the free-kick was very unlucky. I saw the ball inside already, but it never went in.”

“Due to the hectic festive schedule, Klopp decided to make wholesale changes to the team for the Wolves clash“. However, they were hampered early on with the injury to Dejan Lovren and this partly “contributed to the outcome“, given Fabinho was not entirely comfortable playing with young debutant Ki-Jana Hoever at the heart of the defence.

Klopp tried to change the dynamics of the game with Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino coming off the bench but goalkeeper John Ruddy was assured between the sticks for the Wolves as they secured a 2-1 triumph. With the result, the west Midlands outfit have managed to secure at least a draw against each of the previous season’s top six and that should hold well with the faithful.