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Klopp: We battled with Stoke tactics

Cape Town - Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp admitted Stoke made it really difficult for his side at Anfield on Tuesday before they eventually emerged 4-1 victors.

The Potters more than matched the hosts in the opening half hour and took the lead through Jonathan Walters' header in the 12th minute.

But the Reds finally came to terms with the tactics employed by visiting manager Mark Hughes and came away with all three points to move within six points of league leaders Chelsea in second place.

Adam Lallana and Roberto Firmino responded with goals before half-time, while Giannelli Imbula put past his own keeper on the hour mark and Daniel Sturridge completed the scoring just 54 seconds after his introduction as a second-half substitute.

Klopp was pleased to see the Merseysiders overcome the pressure early on to secure the comeback win, while he took time to praise former Reds duo Peter Crouch and Joe Allen for giving his defence headaches.

"We know about our quality, but we don't show it all the time," Klopp said after the match. "At the start of the game it was really difficult.

"It was difficult because the plan of Stoke was to press really high with the two strikers, so we were not patient enough in our passing game.

"It was pressure, but we could have done much better. It became a wild game and when they had the ball, for me, the ball was immediately up in the air to [Peter] Crouch. He did good. Honestly, it was really difficult to defend.

"With the second ball, Joe Allen was brilliant in the beginning. We had to work really hard, so the game was really open.

"In the creating of our moments, again we struggle a little bit with our protection with our position game. [There were] a lot of things we could have done better, but we forced two goals with our quality."

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