London: Jurgen Klopp urged Liverpool to finish the job as they moved within one point of Premier League leaders Manchester City after Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino inspired a crucial 2-0 win against Arsenal on Wednesday.
Klopp’s side took advantage of City’s goalless draw against Crystal Palace on Monday thanks to their smash-and-grab raid at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal enjoyed a sustained period of pressure that could easily have yielded the opening goal, but Alisson Becker made a superb save to deny Martin Odegaard and Liverpool capitalized to steal the points.
Liverpool, chasing an unprecedented quadruple, have won nine successive league games, scoring 23 goals and only conceding twice.
Having trailed City by 14 points on January 15, Liverpool has hunted down the champions impressively, putting the race in their own hands as they eye a second title in three seasons.
A victory against Watford in their next league game on April 2 would set the stage for a seismic showdown with Pep Guardiola’s team at the Etihad Stadium on April 10.
“We’ve obviously had a good period. It is what we need. We are one point behind, but it’s still the same. We have to win football matches,” Klopp said.
“It’s better to be one point behind than 14 points. However, in 10 years, do you think somebody will say you should be proud of finishing second? Probably not.
“We know we have a special group here and we’re trying to squeeze everything we can out of the situation.”
Finding a way to subdue an in-form Arsenal side who had won their previous five league games to climb to fourth place made the victory in rain-soaked North London even more impressive.
“It’s big. Coming here and winning against Arsenal is already special, but winning the game like it was is even more special,” Klopp said.
Klopp issued a challenge to City this week when he admitted he wants Liverpool to be as “annoying as possible” in the title race.
There is no doubt Liverpool are proving extremely irritating, especially since they beat the Gunners with Mohamed Salah starting on the bench after suffering a foot injury in Saturday’s win at Brighton.
After several years in the doldrums, Arsenal is on the up and the vibrant atmosphere at the often-subdued Emirates reflected that renewed confidence in Mikel Arteta’s young team.