Jurgen Klopp admits to Liverpool's 'obvious problems' in defence after Arsenal defeat

Saturday 23 December 2017 11:39, UK

Jurgen Klopp admitted to Liverpool's "obvious problems" in defence following their spectacular implosion against Arsenal.

Roberto Firmino's late equaliser earned Liverpool a point in a thrilling 3-3 draw against Arsenal, after the hosts had come from 2-0 down to lead 3-2 at the Emirates on Friday Night Football.

The Gunners scored their three goals in a crazy five-minute period when Liverpool's defence capitulated.

Klopp was left frustrated by the individual mistakes made by Joe Gomez and Simon Mignolet, calling their problems at the back "obvious".

He said: "We had five minutes where we had obvious problems, that's how it is. Individual problems.

"In this case, it's not about the team defending as when the ball is in the box it's at least a 50-50 and a misjudgement. It's a misjudgement for the second goal and we were too deep for the third goal. It was too easy.

"Then after the five minutes we reacted and deserved the point. It was the minimum we deserved."

Roberto Firmino's equaliser 19 minutes from time sparked a passionate outburst on the touchline from Klopp, who threw a water bottle towards the ground and celebrated in the direction of the Arsenal fans.

The referee Martin Atkinson had to remind Klopp about his touchline conduct, but refrained from sending off the Liverpool boss.

Klopp said: "I was happy and aggressive kind of happy - I've made my apologies already but if the people behind me had to apologise for what they said before then it would take a lot longer.

"I'm fine with that. I react sometimes a little bit strange. I threw a bottle on the ground, maybe it's not nice but when I put it back it had the lid on.

"Nothing serious happened. I wasn't happy at the moment but it was the least that we deserved."