Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has described Christian Benteke as an "outstandingly good striker" following his match-winning brace for Crystal Palace at Anfield on Sunday.

The Belgian came back to haunt his former club on his first return to Anfield since leaving last summer, cancelling out Philippe Coutinho's opener before half time and going on to score the winner with 15 minutes remaining.

Klopp was full of praise for Benteke after the match, but also suggested that both of the goals should have been avoided by his side.

"Christian Benteke is an outstandingly good striker and there's no doubt about it, but if you leave him alone like we did around the first goal then I am not sure he needed all his skills for this goal. A lot of strikers maybe would fail in a moment like this because it was probably not the easiest [chance], but we left him alone and that makes no sense," he told reporters.

"The second one, that's our mistake and nobody else is to blame for it. We gave them the opportunity out of nothing to score the first goal. One long ball, one cross and Benteke alone in the box - there is no excuse. You could see immediately their confidence grew.

"We did it again out of nothing - we gave the corner away. I know how often we spoke about set-pieces but if we hit the ball [away] at the first post, then it's a bad corner. We didn't hit it, so it's a goal, that's how it is. It made the game not easy."

The defeat leaves Liverpool just three points clear of fifth-placed Manchester United having played two games more than their rivals.