Jurgen Klopp criticised Liverpool’s body language as they threw away a two-goal lead against Brighton to drop three points off the top of the Premier League.

Liverpool’s two-goal advantage was the 250th they have held at home in the Premier League era, but they failed to see out victory for only the sixth time as goals from Enock Mwepu and Leandro Trossard either side of half-time earned Brighton a draw.

Klopp was full of praise for his opposite number Graham Potter, who is now three league games undefeated against the Reds, but also blamed his own side for letting their heads drop in a second half where they rarely tested Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.

He said: “It looked like bit by bit by bit we lost another player, body-language wise. Then all of a sudden it wasn’t there any more. In the first half, we were playing incredible passes between the lines, which was exactly what we needed, but in the second half I can’t remember a lot.

“We lost momentum, that was obvious, but if you only play wide you cannot make a real difference given how they defend. We had to attack through the centre, and we didn’t.

“They are definitely underestimated, not from us but in general. They have incredible technical players. When they play wide, the next pass maybe goes in the centre, and the first touch is incredible. You watch it like, ‘Wow!’.

“The second goal they scored was a well-played goal, but we could have defended it better. They deserved the point, and that’s it.”

‘We could have smashed them’

Despite dropping points for the third game out of five, Klopp felt his side had the capability of putting Brighton to the sword at Anfield before the first of the Seagulls’ two comeback goals.

He told Sky Sports: “Brighton are incredibly good. It’s a day when we could have smashed them, but we didn’t. The disallowed goal decisions were incredible – Sadio’s goal was pretty much my favourite one since I’ve been here. It was insane.

“Then they score their goal, which was probably a cross, but we should have defended the half-spaces better, and then it’s game on. The best way to defend against them is to have the ball, and then we didn’t have enough of it.

“We didn’t play football anymore, we should’ve played more between the lines, and attacked the centre, which we didn’t do. They deserved a point, we didn’t lose, but it feels like even with the quality of our opponent.”

Klopp also gave an update on the fitness of Naby Keita, who was forced off before half-time with an injury and replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

“He showed me the hamstring and people told me it is hamstring, I cannot say more,” Klopp said.

Potter: ‘We were amazing’

Graham Potter understandably felt the decision to disallow a Sadio Mane goal for handball with the score 2-0 was pivotal in Brighton’s comeback, with the Seagulls given a lifeline by that decision which they grasped with both hands.

Brighton had been impressive even until that point but he felt his side were “amazing” afterwards, and could have stolen all three points had Trossard not been denied his second by a tight offside call.

“The players deserve all the credit, they played with such courage and intensity. Both teams were at it, we wernt toe to toe, and the boys gave everything.

“It’s a point for us, and a performance we can build from. We had trouble putting pressure on them early on, and once we could do that we got more of a foothold in the game. We survived the 3-0, if that’s allowed it makes it very difficult.

“That was a key moment, and after that I thought we were amazing.”