So is anyone going to doing an Arsenal [h] match thread or is this it..?

[danperkins]

Don't care, had sex.

[Fierce]

why do you care what i do ?

I don't care in the slightest, but this is a forum, so what you write is going to be read and sometimes debated by others

[Bender]

I don't care in the slightest, but this is a forum, so what you write is going to be read and sometimes debated by others

Good debating

[Norbs]

Unbelievable
https://twitter.com/jamespearceecho/...54316458651648

Don't think Klopp gets on with Sturridge at all

[Kenneth]

Can't think why.

[Yozza]

Boss: We can't afford bad individual performances

Jürgen Klopp has admitted Liverpool will struggle to win Premier League games if individual performances such as those seen at Leicester City on Monday are reproduced regularly.

But the Reds boss is confident his players can build on the success of their last Anfield outing - a 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur - when they return to familiar surroundings on Saturday to take on Arsenal.

Klopp's team have been plagued by inconsistency in 2017, and suffered a sixth defeat from the 12 fixtures they have contested this year as they were downed by the Foxes at the King Power Stadium earlier this week.

When asked if his players were performing to the level he expected, the German replied: "In the Tottenham game, yes, in the Leicester game, no. That's how it is.

"I said it because it's the truth, the Leicester game was in this specific way special - there were really a lot of bad individual performances. That was the problem.

"If we have that many players not on their usual level, then each Premier League game will be difficult, especially this game. We lost because of our performance, that's all.

"It's a week ago, we have to do better, there were a few other players who have a lot of space to improve from this game.

"It was not last year that we played really good, so we have to use the one thing and to use the other thing to grow as confident as possible in this game.

"It’s Anfield, it’s our stadium, the last game we played here was outstandingly good, fantastic actually. We want to have this feeling again and that's what we're working for."

It was also put to Klopp that a lack competition for places might be one of the reasons behind the Reds' recent malaise.

But the manager insisted he has no interest in putting too much pressure on his players by declaring their place under threat, and explained that injuries had denied him the opportunity to rotate more regularly.

He added: "Do I really believe in putting people under pressure to perform on their highest level? No.

"When I speak about competition, I don’t really think about that you put them under this kind of pressure. I only think that because of the quality of another player, you have to deliver.

"'If I don't perform, then he can', that's how it is. We have a few injuries - too much, 100 per cent - we have not a lot of opportunities to change and if you win then it's easier to change things than if you lose.

"The players who played Leicester, if I say now come on we change it in three or four positions, then I take them out of responsibility and I put it on the shoulders of other players and say let's see if you can do [it].

"It’s always good to have the choice because then you can react on shape and form and all that stuff that you see in training.

"At this moment, we don’t have that big a choice in a few positions, for different reasons. For example, Ragnar Klavan was really ill, I said it already, that's why Lucas played against Tottenham and he played outstandingly good, a really good game.

"[If people] ask why a No.6 is playing centre-half, the answer is because he did it really well in a lot of games and it makes sense.

"Did he perform outstandingly good against Leicester? He didn’t. That's the situation, there are always reasons for it. It's not that I don’t want to change or things like this.

"A week is not very long but it's long enough to have different [issues], like when the medical department comes in and [says] he cannot train [or] he’s a little bit ill.

"That's what we have to react on. No excuse, all the players were absolutely fit on the pitch against Leicester, but we didn't perform. But I thought we [should] try again."

[Yozza]

Jürgen Klopp's LFC injury update: Lovren, Henderson and Sturridge

Jürgen Klopp has confirmed Liverpool will assess Dejan Lovren's fitness to see if he can figure in Saturday's clash with Arsenal, but Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge will miss the Anfield encounter.

Lovren resumed full training this week after recovering from a knee injury that had kept him sidelined since the Reds’ draw with Chelsea on January 31.

Klopp and his staff will make a decision on whether the centre-back can feature against the Gunners; however, Henderson (foot) and Sturridge (hip strain) are ruled out.

The manager told reporters: “For Jordan it will be too soon, for sure. That will take time. Dejan, we will see. He [did] part of team training the day before yesterday, and then yesterday he was in full team training.

“Now we have to see how he reacts on this. He will be involved in training again, if nobody tells me anything different. Then we have to make a decision.

“It’s not the longest, he was out for pretty much four weeks, [he has been] training for three days and in the end I have to make a decision. I am not sure about it [at the moment].”

Klopp continued: “Daniel was ill – really, really ill. Now he has a strain in his hip muscle. It happened in the rehab session.

“It’s not the biggest one, it’s very small, but it keeps him out of normal training for probably another week. In this week he can train, but not in team training.”

[Yozza]

'The mood has changed since August - but I'm 100 per cent optimistic'

Jürgen Klopp feels the change in the landscape since Liverpool last faced Arsenal is completely natural – but his optimism remains at 100 per cent ahead of their latest meeting.

The Reds kicked off the Premier League campaign with a stunning 4-3 victory at Emirates Stadium back in August, on an afternoon when the away side recovered from an early concession to lead by three goals at one point.

Such scintillating attacking play was a hallmark of Klopp’s side in the first half of the season, but a difficult run of form has been endured since the turn of the year.

That means a different atmosphere is to be expected, according to the manager, as Liverpool prepare to face the Gunners for the second time this term.

But that does not detract from Klopp’s belief in his team’s chances of responding to defeat at Leicester City earlier this week with another memorable performance against Arsenal on Saturday.

He said at his pre-match press conference: “I’m not a clown, even if a few people think I am! I’m not always laughing like crazy, I’m a normal person.

“We all are influenced by the experience we made. That’s how it is. How should I be in exactly the same mood as I was in the beginning of the season?

“This is work. My job is that the players feel until the next game that there is a big chance we can win it. That’s not with laughing the whole week and ignoring the problems we have.

“At the beginning of the season, the season starts, it’s the first impression you get. The first impression of this season was spectacular. It was a wonderful game; not the best start in the game, we bounced back in the game, we scored fantastic goals, we were already through and then made it a little bit exciting again.

“Maybe a few people will say it’s a little bit like the season all in one game. But that was not clear in this moment. We were really happy that we could beat a really strong side like Arsenal in their home ground.

“The last games we played against them were always kind of spectacular – the home game last year here was an intense and spectacular game. Maybe the next one will be similar.

“But we only have to think about how we can use the experience from the last game, experience from the Tottenham game and all that stuff for this game. That’s how our work is.

“We cannot ignore the things that happen around. But I am 100 per cent optimistic again when I think about the Arsenal game on Saturday. But you cannot say I’m in exactly the same mood that I was at the beginning of the season.”

Discussing what is different for each of the teams since they last met, Klopp said: “I can’t say too much about Arsenal.

“The start is like it is; in an ideal world, a free-flowing start. Not perfectly organised and no bad experience together, as full of confidence as possible after a pre-season [when] we were all convinced that we did the right things.

“The Barcelona game was not too long [before] – another nice game in London. Completely optimistic, that’s how it is, and then a season is coming up.

“Meanwhile, we have [had] already a few bad moments together and that, of course, changed [things]. It doesn’t feel that free-flowing anymore, but that’s how seasons are. Maybe only one team has exactly the same feeling still – that’s Chelsea – and all the rest had better or worse moments in the season.

“Obviously, we have this lack of consistency. We cannot ignore it, because we were involved in the games. That’s the thing we have to do now.

“So it’s not too important to compare the start of the season with this moment. But it’s obviously different, that’s how it always is.

“If you want, you can already look forward to the start of the next season, because it will be the same feeling, whatever happens this season. We are now in the middle of the season and we thought it makes sense to try to deliver again on Saturday.”

Liverpool are unbeaten against fellow top-six sides in Premier League clashes this season, with impressive wins over Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur added to the victory over Arsenal.

But that record has no bearing on Klopp’s preparation for this game.

He said: “No game against a top team of the league was easy, not one of them. It was always hard work, highest intensity and all that stuff.

“Until now, we were always ready to perform – and that’s what we have to do. But not because we did it against the other teams, only because Arsenal are here, a good football-playing side, and we need to bounce back, to get the points and keep the points at Anfield. That’s it.

“We cannot use the first Arsenal game because it’s really a lot of water under the bridge. I don’t usually use the games against similar teams.

“The real preparation for this game, the specific Arsenal game, you use pictures from the last three or four games of Arsenal, not from the longer past.”

[BigChief]

Blimey that's a lot of words.

[baitman]

Blimey that's a lot of words.

any highlights? how many "it is normal"

[baitman]

so we going to win this then or what?

will arsenal come and bottle it.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Big team coming to Anfield? Very confident of a good performance today, and am expecting a win.

[baitman]

Mignolet
Clyne
Matip
Klavan
Milner
Wijnaldum
Can
Lallana
Mané
Firmino
Coutinho

Substitutes
Karius
Lovren
Moreno
Lucas
Origi
Woodburn
Alexander-Arnold

[baitman]

arse

Cech
Bellerín
Mustafi
Koscielny
Monreal
Coquelin
Xhaka
Oxlade-Chamberlain
Iwobi
Welbeck
Giroud

Substitutes
Gibbs
Gabriel
Sánchez
Ramsey
Pérez
Ospina
Walcott

[Chris]

No Ozil, **** sake, we dont seem to get much luck this season. Looks like Wenger is going for the hoofs.