Jurgen Klopp has admitted that Stoke City made life "difficult" for Liverpool in the first half of this evening's clash, but insists his side were good value for their victory.

The Reds fell behind just 12 minutes into the match at Anfield and could well have trailed by two had former player Joe Allen buried his chance soon after.

Liverpool soon regained their composure following a slow start and were in front by the interval, before moving up another gear in the second 45 minutes to claim a comfortable 4-1 triumph - enough to take them back up to second place in the Premier League table.

Speaking to reporters after the match, Klopp said: "It was a very difficult game. The result doesn't show it, but it was difficult because it was the third or fourth time we have played Stoke with [Peter] Crouch on the pitch and that is a sign of how they want to play.

"It is difficult to defend. Maybe we could do better when we had the ball but we did not have enough patience in our own possession and the long balls are really difficult to defend. When he is 45 maybe they will still bring him in. We then scored a wonderful goal and then the second one.

"We regrouped again and told the players that the movement was not as good as it could be and we controlled the game. It was pretty clear Stoke cannot play the same half again. It was intense for them, they pressed high and were aggressive. We did better with the ball and deserved this result."

Not since a 1-1 draw with Chelsea in May had Liverpool conceded the first goal in a Premier League game at Anfield.