Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has hailed Mohamed Salah only not for his attacking, but rather for nullifying Arsenal’s Kieran Tierney.
Liverpool headed to North London on Wednesday in search of a ninth straight win and got exactly what they wanted.
After a tough first-half, Liverpool were much better in the second half and took the lead through Diogo Jota before Roberto Firmino added another.
That takes Liverpool just one point behind Manchester City in the race for the Premier League table, and they managed Wednesday’s win despite limited minutes from Mohamed Salah.
Salah came into the game with a small injury and was only available from the bench, coming on for Luis Diaz after 56 minutes.
Salah didn’t really impact the game all that much in an attacking sense, but Klopp was delighted with his defensive work.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Klopp suggested that Salah was ‘very lively’ and did a great job keeping Tierney quiet.
Klopp felt Tierney was much less adventurous during the second half and credit Salah with forcing that change of approach.
“Mo (Salah) was very lively and kept Tierney really quiet,” said Klopp. “Let me say it like this, he was not that adventurous anymore in the second half,” he added.
Tierney has a key role in the Arsenal side as there is real emphasis on him to get forward and offer an overlap beyond Gabriel Martinelli.
Cedric Soares on the other side isn’t quite as attack-minded, so having Salah on just to push Tierney back a little will have been noticeable to Klopp.
We all focus so much on Salah’s sheer brilliance going forward, but he also offers so much off the ball too.
That has made Salah a Liverpool hero and ultimately one of the top players in the world.
It may not always be noticed, but Klopp clearly appreciates Salah’s work off the ball and especially against Arsenal.
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