Bobby Dazzler!
Roberto Firmino hits a hat-trick as Reds deliver a stunning masterclass – next up, Manchester City in the game of the season
Klopp urges caution after team take nine-point lead Emery blames defending by ‘every’ Arsenal player
Jurgen Klopp has told Liverpool fans not to get carried away after his team opened up a nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 5-1 demolition of Arsenal at Anfield ahead of the club’s meeting with champions Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday.
Klopp joked Liverpool’s fans should enjoy New Year’s Eve but be ready for another major test against City, who can cut the lead to seven points if they beat Southampton today. There was a hat-trick from Roberto Firmino, a goal for Sadio Mane and a penalty from Mohamed Salah, after Liverpool had initially fallen behind to Ashley Maitland-Niles’s opener.
Klopp said: “I’m not famous for not being a positive person. From time to time I try to enjoy life. That’s really important. If we qualify for a third time for a Champions League spot that would be brilliant and there’s already a distance. But do I think it’s already done? I’m sorry, I do not. I know you think about the next step. It would be crazy if the fans were not [excited]. Hopefully they will be loud in Liverpool but not too loud because my dog does not like it. But a bit louder. And enjoy it and be ready again for Jan 3.”
He joked that the expectation was a creation of the media, and that his players had not shown a flicker of emotion when second-place Tottenham Hotspur were beaten by Wolverhampton Wanderers. “By tomorrow it [Liverpool’s lead] could be seven,” he said. “Then we play Man City and it could be four. I’m not the smartest person in the world but I’m really not an idiot. It’s really not important how many points you are ahead in December.
“If we drop three points, you are the first to say, ‘They are nervous’. It’s an easy job. I would love to be in your situation [ journalists], still earning the money I earn. We cannot play that game, and we don’t do it. Really.
“Before the game we heard about the result [at Wembley]. Do you think the party started already? I hardly saw a smile in the dressing room. We came focused on the situation.” Klopp reserved special mention for Salah who, after scoring from the spot, gave the second penalty to Firmino to allow him to score his hat-trick. The manager described the gesture as “one of the nicest things I have seen in my life”.
Arsenal manager Unai Emery said the difference between the teams was not as great as the scoreline suggested. “Defensively we know we need to do better,” he said. “But that is everybody, not just defenders. We need to be stronger, work at defensive moments in the box. Everybody. We need to keep the ball in the middle.”
On Mesut Ozil’s absence, he said the German playmaker had a knee injury. Emery said: “I don’t know if it’s big [injury] or not big.”