Wijnaldum feels Liverpool deserved more against Chelsea

Liverpool goalscorer Georginio Wijnaldum conceded the battling 1-1 draw with Premier League leaders Chelsea at Anfield was tinged with disappointment.

Jurgen Klopp’s side concluded a winless January in the top flight still 10 points behind Antonio Conte’s men in fourth after Wijnaldum cancelled out David Luiz’s first-half free-kick.

They had goalkeeper Simon Mignolet to thank for preserving a point as he kept out Diego Costa’s 76th-minute penalty but Netherlands international Wijnaldum felt that, on the balance of play, a point was the least Liverpool deserved.

“We started the game very well. We were strong and playing football in their half,” the midfielder told BT Sport.

“Their biggest chance was the free-kick. We were a little bit disappointed, you could see from the body language.

“Second half we go again, we scored a goal and we were lucky Simon came up with the penalty save.

“It’s a good point but I am a little bit disappointed and I think my team-mates are also because we could have had more today.”

Mignolet ended the evening taking the Kop’s acclaim but he and his defensive wall were caught out when Luiz responded quickest to Mark Clattenburg’s whistle and powered home a viciously dipping free-kick via the inside of the post.

“I didn’t hear the whistle and he took it early which is a difficult feeling,” he said.

“It was a good free-kick in the end but you want to give yourself a chance of saving it.”

Liverpool remain firmly within the chasing pack despite their slump and, with fixtures against Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester City coming up in their next six Premier League matches, Mignolet is confident of an upturn with cup distractions no longer an issue for Klopp’s men.

“We can focus on the Premier League and we want to challenge until the last day,” he added.

“We’ve got big games coming up, we look forward to them.

“Today showed we are a really good side and we have to keep going.”