Klopp praises classy Thiago after Reds rally to beat Norwich

Jurgen Klopp says it is vital for Liverpool to keep Thiago Alcantara fit after he came off the bench to pull the strings in Liverpool’s 3-1 Premier League win over Norwich City.

Milot Rashica’s deflected strike gave the relegation-threatened Canaries a shock lead in the 48th minute at Anfield on Saturday, but the Reds stormed back to extend their winning run to eight games.

Sadio Mane equalised with an acrobatic volley and Mohamed Salah put Liverpool in front three minutes later with his 150th goal for the club.

Luis Díaz opened his Reds account nine minutes from time as they reduced Manchester City’s lead at the top of the table to six points ahead of the champions’ clash with Tottenham, also taking their tally of goals for the season to the 100 mark.

Still thinking about that Sadio stunner  pic.twitter.com/ZlhU41EMuy

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 19, 2022

Klopp was without the injured Roberto Firmino and made seven changes to his team following the Champions League victory over Inter in midweek.

Thiago was brought on along with Divock Origi just before Mane equalised as Klopp altered Liverpool’s shape and the Spain midfielder was outstanding in the middle of the park.

Klopp told Match of the Day: “Thiago with his passing, really fresh, really relaxed, full of confidence, that helped as well. He is a good player, we just have to make sure we can keep him fit.

“Diogo [Jota] was not available and we don’t know how long it will take, Bobby Firmino has a muscle problem and is out for a while, so we have to keep the boys fit and create a spirit like the boys did today in the game.”

Norwich gave a great account of themselves as they defended for their lives and posed a threat on the break.

Klopp praised the Canaries and was pleased with the way his side rallied to stretch their unbeaten run to 11 matches.

“It had its moments, the longer the game went on the more I could enjoy it, obviously. A week ago when we played at Burnley, they give you a proper fight and over the years you learn to deal with these situations, again today,” the German said.

“Norwich have a very different style but played a proper game, defended deep, had their counter-attacks, made it really tricky for us.

“We had moments and then the game can look completely different, then a deflected ball can be pretty decisive, but these boys just don’t give up, we could help from the bench, bringing really good players on and that was like three days ago the game changer.

“We played really good football and scored wonderful goals. The coaching team, we changed the system as well, go for 4-4-2 and that is necessary in a moment like this that you throw all the knowledge you have together – it gave them a proper challenge to deal with because all of a sudden we were a threat in all moments.”