There was a major mix-up between two of Liverpool’s senior stars (Picture: Getty0
Jurgen Klopp has defended Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker are the two were at calamitously at fault in Liverpool’s defeat to Arsenal.
The Gunners reduced Liverpool’s lead at the summit of the Premier League to two points after a 3-1 victory in north London.
A major mix-up at the back saw the visitors wipe out Bukayo Saka’s opener just before half-time with Gabriel bundling the ball into his own net after a mix-up between William Saliba and David Raya.
But Liverpool produced a calamity of their own to hand Arsenal back the lead with van Dijk and Alisson both failing to deal with a long ball over the top, allowing Gabriel Martinelli top tap home into an empty net.
Leandro Trossard added a third for Arsenal to wrap up all three points with Alisson also at fault after Ibrahima Konate was shown a red card.
Club captain van Dijk took full responsibility for the error with Klopp putting it down to a simple ‘misunderstanding’.
‘Our two main guns had a misunderstanding,’ Klopp said.
‘They are human beings. That makes what they usually do even more special.’
Marinelli scored a crucial second for the Gunners (Picture: Getty)
Van Dijk explained he had made the wrong decision in not attempting to clear the ball immediately, with the bounce allowing Martinelli to exploit the mistake.
‘It was a tough day,’ he told Sky Sports. ‘The [goal for] 2-1, I take full responsibility for that, I should be have done better and made a better decision and it hurts.
‘Especially for me but the rest of the team. It was a big turning point.
‘We were having opportunities, we were dominant, the atmosphere [at the Emirates] was a bit nervous.
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‘We were dominant in the second half until that turning point. I should just try clear it but I made the wrong the decision, These things don’t happen too often but I will recover and I will take responsibility.
‘I’m not looking for excuses. It’s split second decisions you make, I chose to let the ball bounce and put my body in the way. Things happen. But I will try to make sure it never happens again.’
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