Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has praised Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku following his battle with Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku is clearly a ‘really good dribbler’ according to Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.
Klopp took his Liverpool side to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon, seeking to prove their title credentials.
Erling Haaland gave City the lead but Pep Guardiola’s men just couldn’t find the second goal to kill the game off.
City were made to pay as Trent Alexander-Arnold fired home a superb leveller, handing Liverpool a 1-1 draw.
Jurgen Klopp praises Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jeremy Doku
Alexander-Arnold chipped in with a goal having gone through quite the battle with City wide man Jeremy Doku.
The Belgian wide man was a constant threat for City and the stats sum up his influence.
Four key passes and a staggering 12 successful dribbles show what a menace Doku was against Liverpool.
City couldn’t take full advantage though and Alexander-Arnold stuck to his task throughout, impressing Klopp in the process.
The Liverpool boss has told the club’s official website that he felt Alexander-Arnold was ‘very good’ and had a ‘really good game’.
Klopp felt that Doku showed how ‘really good’ he is in terms of dribbling, but felt that Alexander-Arnold still managed to be ‘pretty influential’.
“Very good. He played a really good game, super-influential,” said Klopp. “We changed it, if you want, with the position; we brought him and made it more clear where he has to be in these moments. But he did that really well and had still his moments with Doku where he was really strong in the one-on-one situations. You could see in a lot of moments how difficult it is against him, he is a really good dribbler. Trent was pretty influential today, in a good way,” he added.
Klopp knows all about Doku’s threat
Klopp was probably kicking himself when City pulled off a deal to bring Doku in from Rennes back in August.
Liverpool targeted Doku when he was coming up in the Anderlecht ranks, just a couple of years before he moved to Rennes.
Doku’s father admitted that they took a trip to Anfield in 2018 and discussed a transfer with Klopp, who allegedly saw Sadio Mane-like potential in Doku.
The move never materialised though as Doku chose to stay in Belgium and continue his development, long before becoming a City player.
Liverpool no doubt kept tabs on Doku in France and are now seeing him shine for City, potentially becoming a threat to the Reds for years to come.
Klopp will hope that Alexander-Arnold gets the better of him though having seen encouraging signs on Saturday.
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