Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp vows to give Premier League rivals Man City ‘a proper fight’

Liverpool turned up the heat on Manchester City as they moved within a point of the Premier League summit and Jurgen Klopp promised his team will keep chasing for the title.

‘I’m very excited about the team and the situation we’re in,’ said Klopp as he savoured a 2-0 win at Arsenal, two goals in eight second-half minutes scored by Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino.

‘We just need to keep going. I don’t think a lot about City, that’s the truth. I know the only chance we have is to win an incredible amount of games because they do.

‘In last few years we’ve pushed each other on insane levels. It makes each game a final. You can enjoy that, for sure, but it’s intense, and then comes the physical part and you are tired.

‘We play City in three or four weeks and then we will give them a proper fight.’

Andy Robertson said: ‘It’s a sprint finish line. We’re in the race so we need to focus on what we’re doing. We still have to go to their place.’

Diogo Jota struck for the Reds at the Emirates as they made it nine league wins in a row

It is Liverpool’s ninth win in a row in the Premier League and, on Sky Sports, Liverpool legends Graeme Souness and Jamie Carragher tipped their former club to win the title with momentum on their side.

Klopp, however, said: ‘Momentum is the most fragile flower on the planet. Someone steps on it and then it’s gone. I’m not a big friend of momentum. Just find a way to get through it. I would prefer to be 20 points in front.’

Mikel Arteta claimed his team were the better team between the two penalty areas and only beaten because Liverpool converted their chances and his side did not. The Arsenal boss also complained about a swift turnaround before Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off at Aston Villa.

Klopp congratulates his players at full-time, including second goal scorer Roberto Firmino

‘Thank you so much to the Premier League for doing the fixtures like this,’ Arteta fumed. ‘Very, very helpful. It’s not fair what they’ve done. It’s BT, it’s sky, it’s this it’s that.’

But Liverpool have played 13 games, six more than Arsenal in the two months since they met in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi final.

‘That’s how it is, I don’t complain,’ said Klopp. ‘We wake up in a different hotel and somebody tells you where the restaurant is and you try to remember the number of the room.’