Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was not happy at being asked about his side's rotation policy during his pre-match press conference ahead of this weekend's meeting with Arsenal.
The Reds’ boss is under a little additional pressure at Anfield heading into the clash with the Premier League leaders, after what has been a dire campaign. Liverpool sit ninth and saw their hopes of a place in the Champions League dealt a huge blow during their 4-1 defeat to Man City after the international break, whilst they were also held to a 0-0 draw against Chelsea last time.
Klopp surprisingly made a number of changes to his side for the trip to Stamford Bridge. Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold were all left out of the side.
Ahead of the clash with Arsenal, Klopp was asked by journalists in attendance why he decided to switch up team, something that left the German disgruntled.
He replied: “We had a game against City, which is an influence physically and performance-wise. It is both. How can you expect I give you an answer and say 'two were because of that and four were because of that'. That is a real waste of time.”
Speaking about the Reds’ upcoming game, Klopp addressed comments he made previously that the past week would potentially “define” the Reds’ season.
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“If we win this game [vs Arsenal], then we will have taken four points out of these games,” the German added. “This would be completely normal for us in the past.
“Most of the time we drew there [Stamford Bridge]. Last season, I sat at home with COVID. We started really well but it was a draw in the end. And losing to Man City was always possible.
“I understand from your point of view it's super difficult to find new questions every week but believe me it's even more difficult to find new answers.”
Liverpool could potentially move up to sixth in the table should they manage to beat Arsenal and results go for them. Klopp was also asked to give his verdict on table-topping Arsenal and was full of praise for the job that Mikel Arteta has done at the Emirates Stadium over the past year.
"I know people ask for time for managers but I really think Mikel deserved each minute he got there when things were not going well because they are there [at the top] now," Klopp said.
"The team is very well set up, good transfers on top of that but a really stable team. That's what they're using now."
