The Reds boss admits he had a feeling his side would make an immediate response against the Gunners on Saturday
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp admits he felt convinced his side would respond to their 3-1 defeat to Leicester City with victory over Arsenal, following their training session on Friday.
A ninth-minute strike from Roberto Firmino got Liverpool off to the perfect start and Sadio Mane doubled the lead shortly before the break. However, Giorginio Wijnaldum’s stoppage-time strike restored their two-goal advantage after Danny Welbeck got Arsenal back into the game early in the second half.
Klopp admits he didn’t know how his players would respond to another damaging blow to their top four chances, in their defeat at Leicester.
But the former Borussia Dortmund boss got the perfect response against an Arsenal side also struggling for form.
“In 17 years as a manager I’ve seen the worst training weeks in my life and the best performance at the weekend and the other way around,” said Klopp.
“I didn’t but if I would have thought after Wednesday if we could win against Arsenal, the answer would have been ‘no’.
“If you would have asked me on Thursday, I would have said ‘not sure’.
“Then if you had asked me on Friday, I would have said ‘yes we can’.
“Reactions, especially for football teams, are not always the same, but the performance tonight should not be a surprise because the boys have played already a few times like this.”
Victory for Liverpool lifted them up into third, until Manchester City’s win away to Sunderland on Sunday saw them overtake the Reds, and Klopp’s men are two points clear of Arsenal.
However, the Gunners and sixth-placed Manchester United both boast a game in hand over Liverpool. So the Reds will have to take advantage of the Premier League being their only focus and ensure they maintain their place in the top four in order to secure Champions League football for next season.
