Jurgen Klopp was adamant Liverpool should have been awarded a stoppage-time penalty in a dramatic end to his title-chasing side’s 1-1 draw with champions Manchester City.

An absorbing top-of-the-table Premier League contest at Anfield was halted for a late VAR check after City’s Jeremy Doku caught Alexis Mac Allister in the chest with his boot but nothing was given.

The Reds had already been given one penalty early in the second half, with Mac Allister converting to cancel out John Stones’ 23rd-minute opener.

Liverpool manager Klopp told Sky Sports: “This situation, on all positions on the pitch, is 100 per cent a foul and it’s a yellow card.

“He hit the ball but he can only hit the ball because his foot was right there. If the ball is not there, he kills him.

“It’s as easy as that. It’s a penalty for all football people on the planet. If you don’t think it is one then maybe you’re not a football person.”

Klopp was nevertheless happy with his side’s performance against a strong City team.

Whilst City twice hit the woodwork in the second half Liverpool, who have been hampered by a lengthy injury list in recent weeks, had spells of dominance and several chances to win the game themselves.

The result left Arsenal leading the table on goal difference only from Liverpool, with City just a point further back with 10 games remaining.

Klopp said: “We would have loved to use one of the massive chances we created.

“Yes, we are lucky when (Jeremy) Doku hit the post but we played an exceptional football game.

“For us, besides the result, the most important information is that we are right there. We go the distance.

“For us it is probably a little bit like, how did we get through all that and that we are still there? It is crazy with all these games and the squad situation we have.

“Today I saw the best 53 minutes we had against Manchester City. It was exceptional how we played.”

City boss Pep Guardiola admitted his side had survived an onslaught in the second period.

He said: “We spoke at half-time that in this stadium, if you have to defend something, you have to play and play and play.

“We gave away the penalty and, sooner or later, with this stadium, you have 15 or 20 minutes and it looks like a tsunami coming for everybody who has the ball.

“It is not easy but we never stopped trying to play. They had their chances, we had our chances and at the end of the game it (draw) is what happened.”

Guardiola, whose side are chasing a fourth successive Premier League crown and a sixth in seven years, is pleased to be involved in the thick of another title race.

He said: “Still there are 10 games to go, 30 points to play for, one point difference.

“The important thing is still we are there, after where we came from in previous seasons still we are there.

“Except one year when Liverpool won it with a lot of points, we were always there.”

Kieran Trippier backs Tino Livramento to succeed him for club and country

Kieran Trippier has backed young pretender Tino Livramento to establish himself as England’s right-back as he attempts to fend off his advances for both club and country.

Livramento, a £32million summer signing from Southampton, is likely to replace Trippier in Newcastle’s starting line-up for Monday night’s Premier League trip to Chelsea as the 33-year-old faces a spell on the sidelines with a minor calf injury.

However Trippier, who has been the standard-bearer for much of what the Magpies have achieved in the last two years, knows the 21-year-old is gunning for his places in both the Newcastle team and the England squad.

He said: “Tino, for such a young guy, is unbelievable. I’ve had loads of talks with Tino, firstly to try to help him. I know he’s my position, but I don’t want to be selfish.

“He’ll be unbelievable for Newcastle in the future and an England right-back as well. That’s how highly I rate him.”

That is a view shared by Magpies head coach Eddie Howe, who has been hugely impressed by Livramento’s performances to date at left-back, right-back and in midfield, a process which continued last weekend when he scored a superb solo goal in a 3-0 victory over Wolves after replacing the injured Trippier.

Asked if the youngster’s challenge had to be to oust the former Burnley, Tottenham and Atletico Madrid man on both the domestic and international stages, Howe said: “Of course. If you ask Tino, that will be his aim and if you ask me, I’d want every player to feel the same way.

“If you’re not in the team, your aim and ambition should be to try to get into the team, to try to prove you’re better than the team-mate that you’re competing against.

“If you have that in your squad, I think you’ve got a healthy squad, you’ve got a good balance between being a good team-mate and fighting for your place.

“Tino has shown all those qualities this year. He has been learning and developing behind the scenes, he’s been no doubt picking things up off Kieran and I’ve enjoyed seeing them both battle against each other.”

Trippier will miss the trip to Chelsea and the FA Cup quarter-final at Manchester City which follows it, as well as England’s friendly double-header against Brazil and Belgium as a result of the injury which has robbed him of the opportunity to atone for the error which cost his side a place in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

Asked what had been going through his head as he uncharacteristically allowed Mykhailo Mudryk to score a late equaliser 12 days after he had gifted Everton two goals, he said: “Do you know what? I don’t actually know.

“It was a strange one, really. I was just making a mistake and then making another mistake. I haven’t got any excuses, really.

“It’s just you make a mistake and you want to try even better and then because you’re trying so hard, you make another mistake, and it’s not me.”