Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp picks out seven Arsenal stars for praise

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has been hugely impressed by the work done by Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, picking out seven players for huge praise. Liverpool and Arsenal go head-to-head in a hotly-anticipated Premier League clash on Sunday with the Gunners much improved from last term.

Liverpool’s woes so far mean they’re already 11 points adrift of the league leaders with Sunday the perfect opportunity to close that gap. Klopp’s side have won four of the last five matches against Arsenal and haven’t conceded a single goal against them since September 2020.

But Arteta’s side are a different prospect nowadays with Arsenal winning seven of their opening eight league matches, scoring 20 goals in the process. They’ve got the league’s joint-best defensive record too and, while Klopp hopes to “cause them problems”, the Liverpool manager has paid huge respect to his opposite number for the work he has done with a number of players in Arsenal’s squad.

“All my respect – wow – really, really good job,” Klopp said about Arteta. “When you need some time, nobody wants to give you time and maybe not all of us deserve time because you still have to be good to use the time and Mikel obviously did.

“I have to say, [I have] lots of respect for it. They had a lot of talent already in the last few years with [Gabriel] Martinelli and everybody. I was very early excited about him and he’s become exactly the player I expected he will be.

“Martin Odegaard, I spoke to him when he was 15 from Norway when the whole world wanted him and he decided for Real Madrid. I remember if it was yesterday, we sat on a table with his dad and were all so excited.

“Then there were a few difficult years which is normal when you’re that much in the spotlight, so he became the player everybody expected. 

“[Bukayo] Saka, from the first day that since he’s been playing and Gabriel Jesus, if anybody knew how good he could be not in a Man City shirt and a fixed No 9 in the line-up, then it was Mikel because he worked together with him, same thing with [Oleksandr] Zinchenko.

“He brought Granit Xhaka back on track. Thomas Partey, everybody knew how good he was when he was at Atletico so now the last line is now really well settled. They’ve found a way how they want to defend and that’s it.

“Last night they obviously played a different line-up, but still lots of quality so it’s a young team, very exciting team doing really well and they are in the position they are well deserved. Now we go there and obviously we don’t think about the games we’ve played against them because it doesn’t make too much sense so we will try to cause them problems.”

Source: Read Full Article