Liverpool are currently sitting fourth in the Premier League table and are four points behind leaders Chelsea.
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Liverpool’s unbeaten start to the Premier League ended last time out when they lost 3-2 against West Ham United. The Merseyside outfit are currently sitting fourth in the league table and are four points behind leaders Chelsea. With the final international break of the calendar year now over, the Reds will hope to bounce back quickly against Arsenal in the league. The match being played at Anfield will give Jurgen Klopp’s boys an upper hand. Ahead of the crucial clash, Klopp discussed a variety of subjects during his pre-match press conference on Friday. On what Saturday’s game means in the race for title and top four, he replied, “Yeah, it says a lot. Title race? It’s a bit early for that.”
“But to stay up there, we all know we need to stay in front of Arsenal, to stay in and around the top of the league, you need results and we didn’t have enough good results in the last few weeks. That’s why the situation is like it is. Yes, we lost at West Ham but even if we would have drawn there the situation would not be massively different. Obviously with a win, yes, but with the draw, not. That’s it.
“We know we have to perform, we know we have to fight. That’s pretty much the most important information probably: we have to fight because Arsenal are a really good football team. But we are at Anfield and we have to show that and we have to make clear that it’s a massive difference for all teams and for us as well. I’m really looking forward to it, it’s a while ago that we played here. Now we have three home games in a row. How I said, a while ago and I can’t wait to start.”
Klopp was asked whether he would look beyond 2024 as Liverpool manager. “I don’t have to think about these kinds of things in the moment, thank God, because we are in the middle of this season and that’s all we are focused on. But I really think I spoke often enough [about it]; no other manager gets asked that often about things that happen in two-and-a-half years or three years or four years,” he explained.
“At least, I don’t know [that they do]. I didn’t think about it until you asked me now and I don’t want to think now about it. It’s all fine how it is. It’s over when it’s over but it’s far away from being over, so let’s focus on that.”
Klopp also praised Virgil van Dijk’s influence on the team’s attacking build-up play from back. “Yeah, very important. To mix up our build-up is very important, he’s not the only one who can play these balls but he can play these balls, that’s good. I think our centre-halves improved in the last few years a lot in all the build-up situations. They very often are the first ones who get the ball from the goalkeeper, so it means that’s an important role. They don’t have to play the final pass but they can play the second-last or third-last or whatever. That’s how it is,” he added.
“The main thing about these kinds of things is if you mix it up – we know, we feel that very often ourselves – it makes it just more difficult for the opposition to adapt to it because you think you have an idea for this pass, you have an idea for that pass, you can close the centre, you can close the gaps and then they play over your head. Many teams do that with us constantly and so we thought years ago we should try that as well. Yes, Virgil is a really good player and I’m really happy that we have him. And yes, he has plenty of strengths – hopefully he can show them all on Saturday.”
