Jurgen Klopp emphasized that Liverpool's Premier League title aspirations hinge on a "crisis" occurring at Arsenal and Manchester City following a 2-0 loss in the Merseyside derby against Everton.

With four games remaining, Liverpool finds themselves three points adrift of the top spot.

Everton secured their first home derby victory since 2010 with goals from Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, effectively alleviating relegation concerns by establishing an eight-point cushion above the relegation zone.

The Everton supporters taunted their rivals by singing "You lost the league at Goodison Park" and Klopp, who will step down as Liverpool manager at the end of the season, said his side were now struggling to stay alive in the title race.

"I don't know why I need to answer the question, but I know how it works," Klopp said. "You can see the table. We need a crisis at Arsenal and City, so they need to not win games as we haven't done tonight. Arsenal and City must have a very bad moment.

"I can only apologise for today to the people. We should have done better but we didn't. Our performance wasn't good enough and I am very disappointed.

"We defended the first goal three times and handed it to Everton on a plate and the second goal could probably have been defended better.

"And for us, each miss gave Everton more momentum. We never had it, but we gave them more."

Klopp added that his would have to recover physically and mentally, but that the second part is difficult when you lose a game like this.

"West Ham will probably be waiting for us [on Saturday] and rubbing their hands, hoping that we turn up on one leg, but we have to recover for that," Klopp said.

The jubilant Everton supporters celebrated their team's victory with fervent enthusiasm, staying at Goodison Park long after the final whistle to sing and applaud the players. Manager Sean Dyche attributed the win to the loyal fans who have endured a challenging season marked by two points deductions imposed by the Premier League.

"That win is for the people," Dyche said. "We should be on 41 points and the story's different. But thats now three clean sheets in three home games. The challenge for the players is to go and do it again.

"We spoke about the desire and the energy of the team and the physical side of the game. The lads did it on Sunday and they'll have to do it again. That's the challenge."