Liverpool swept aside a stubborn Arsenal side 3-1 at Anfield to maintain their hundred percent start to the new Premier League season.
Jurgen Klopp’s men were dominant from the word go and looked sharp from the outset. However, it was Arsenal who went ahead in the game against the run of play catching out Liverpool’s high line out and also with some help from left-back Andrew Robertson who fluffed his clearance.
The Reds though hit straight back to take a 2-1 lead at the break. The Gunners however gave a good go at Liverpool in the second half and missed a golden chance to equalise when Alexandre Lacazette hit his effort straight at goalkeeper Alisson in a one-on-one situation.
The Reds eventually sealed the game with a goal from new signing Diogo Jota who made it 3-1.
Klopp was delighted with the team’s performance but was irked when he overheard Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane calling parts of Liverpool’s performance ‘sloppy’ just before he was set to be interviewed by the broadcaster.
The Reds’ boss clearly not happy with Keane’s assessment hit back at the former Manchester United captain.
“Did I hear Mr Keane say that we had a sloppy performance tonight?” Klopp said in the post-match interview to Sky Sports.
“Maybe he was speaking about some other game and I didn’t hear it right. It cannot be this game. Sorry. That’s an incredible description of this game. It was absolutely exceptional. Nothing was sloppy. Absolutely nothing,” he added.
“It was dominant from the first second against a team in form. Hundred percent in form. You had to be careful like hell for the counter-attacks,” he continued.
Klopp admitted his side took risks by playing a high defensive line against the pacy attack of Arsenal but felt it was the only way to defend against an in-form Gunners’ side. He was particularly pleased with how his defence consistently managed to catch the Arsenal forwards offside.
“The football we played was absolutely exceptional. It doesn’t help with any other game. Not for Thursday, not for Sunday but for this game tonight there’s nothing bad to say. It was the opposite of sloppy,” Klopp responded when Keane clarified that he was only talking about specific parts of Liverpool’s play.
“We had so many big moments and I’m not a dreamer. I don’t stand here and hope that we finish off each situation. In the first half, we played a super game but we were 1-0 down. If this game we wouldn’t have won it would have been incredible but we won it,” the Liverpool manager said.
“We completely deserved it and we could have scored more goals. Could they have scored? Yes, because of the quality that they have and you can’t defend in some moments,” he added.
Liverpool are one of the three teams in the Premier League that’s enjoyed a 100% start to the campaign with all their main rivals dropping points. Manchester City were stunned 5-2 by Leicester on Sunday that helped the Reds open up a six-point gap over their rivals so early on in the campaign even though City have played a game fewer.
Keane later admitted that he has been a big fan of how Liverpool have played under Klopp and expects them to win the Premier League title again under their German manager.
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