Swansea City 3-1 Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp admits much-changed side failed to match expectations

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp thinks his much-changed side only had themselves to blame for their 3-1 defeat to Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium. The German boss opted to make a raft of changes to the Reds team with Europa League commitments in mind, but said their performance, and not his team selection, was the reason for their loss.

Swansea defeated Klopp's under-strength Liverpool side thanks to a brace from André Ayew and an eye-catching long-range effort from Jack Cork. Liverpool scored a consolation goal through substitute Christian Benteke, but their misery was compounded when Australian youngster Brad Smith was dismissed for two bookable offences in the second half.

"We changed the line-up and with this line-up we can play much better football. We could explain a few things and it would sound like an excuse," the Liverpool boss said after the game, according to the BBC.

Klopp - who named Liverpool's youngest line-up in Premier League history - admitted his team did not play according to their ability levels. "This performance was not enough," the Liverpool manager conceded. "We cannot be sure but if we don't concede the third one it's an open game. You can see there was not the body language you need for a comeback, though.

"We deserved to lose, they deserved to win, that's how football is on a bad day. I thought we lost a lot of easy balls, we weren't compact, there were a lot of things we could've done better. If we'd played a normal game, we could have won."

Victory for Swansea guaranteed their place in the Premier League for next season, while Liverpool stay in seventh position in the table.