I was waiting for Van Persie and Bergkamp – Klopp lauds Arsenal attack

Jurgen Klopp was impressed by Arsenal’s attacking verve throughout Liverpool’s 1-1 draw at Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

The Reds had a Sadio Mane effort controversially ruled out for offside and Virgil van Dijk also hit the post during the first half.

James Milner’s opener arrived after the hour but Arsenal enjoyed plenty of encouragement in the Liverpool half throughout and belatedly got their reward through Alexandre Lacazette’s superb equaliser eight minutes from time – preserving a 14-match unbeaten run in all competitions.

By that stage, Unai Emery had introduced forward Danny Welbeck and creative midfielders Aaron Ramsey and Alex Iwobi to supplement an attack of Mesut Ozil and Lacazette, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang having made way.

“Arsenal brought pretty much all of their strikers [on]… I was actually waiting for [Robin] van Persie and [Dennis] Bergkamp,” Klopp joked at a post-match news conference, referring to the two Gunners greats.

8 – @Arsenal have won more points from losing positions than any other side in the Premier League this season. Resolve. #ARSLIV pic.twitter.com/4EJTlPM8DE

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 3, 2018

“It was intense, very intense. It is clear Arsenal are in a very good moment.

“We made life a bit too easy for them in the first half. Formation-wise I was not happy at how compact we were and stuff like that.

“When we had the ball it was good, we were a threat, we were in behind.

“The start was like, ‘Wow, Arsenal are there’ but then the first attack we had, everyone knew, ‘Okay, they are not too bad as well!’

“It was then a pretty open game.”

The point took Liverpool back to the top of the Premier League but they will drop to third if Chelsea and champions Manchester City win their respective games against Crystal Palace and Southampton on Sunday.