Georginio Wijnaldum Insists Liverpool Must Keep Confidence Despite Man City Defeat

Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum has insisted that the Reds must remain confident despite suffering a first Premier League defeat of the season on Thursday night as reigning champions and title rivals Manchester City emerged victorious at the Etihad Stadium.

Even after the setback, the Reds remain four points clear at the top of the table and Wijnaldum has stated the squad must not let it affect them.

"We were quite unlucky with the chances but we also could lose it - like we have now. We just have to keep the confidence and try to win the next game," the Dutchman told LiverpoolFC.com.

"They cleared well and we hit the post. They also had two or three chances so it could have gone either way; we could have won, drawn or lost. At the end, we were unlucky and they won the game," he added.

"We knew before it would be a hard game and we would have to give everything to win the game. A few games this season we were lucky we have scored goals, and tonight we were quite unlucky with the chances that we had. That's football.

"Sometimes you have games where you score with every chance that you get, sometimes you don't. What we have to do now is to keep our confidence and win the next game."

Shaun Botterill/GettyImages

Liverpool's advantage over City means that they remain favourites as they look to win a first league title since 1990 and a first trophy of any kind since 2012.

League action pauses this weekend for the FA Cup third round, with the Reds taking on Wolves at Molineux in a tricky all-Premier League tie on Monday night.