Jurgen Klopp has dismissed suggestions Manchester City are missing a striker - and regards it a "joke" Divock Origi cannot even get in Liverpool's squad.
The Reds closed the gap on City at the top of the Premier League table to just a point after an impressive 2-0 win at Arsenal on Wednesday. Diogo Jota and substitute Roberto Firmino scored the goals to underline the attacking options at Klopp's disposal, with Mohamed Salah also coming on as Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz started the game.
City stuttered on Monday when they were held to a goalless draw at Crystal Palace, prompting discussion over their lack of a frontline forward. But when asked about the comparative attacking options of the two title contenders, Klopp said: "I don’t like these discussions at all, to be honest. Talking about City as if they would miss a striker, that’s a joke.
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"The way they played against Crystal Palace they had like five or six clear-cut chances, nothing to do with not having a striker. You’re telling me De Bruyne hit the crossbar because there was no striker? You cannot open discussions like you want: on the one side they are the best team in the world and on the next they need a striker. Football is not that easy; you just put a striker there and all of a sudden he finishes the situations off."
Klopp added: "We need our boys in different ways as well, it’s not that you can just be a striker who scores goals. If you want to be a striker for Liverpool you have to work your socks off in each game, you have to defend the width, you have to defend the whatever.
"That is important, that is why we change, not because they didn’t score because Diogo scored and we still changed. It’s about how much can they help us in all the situations and for that you need fresh legs and it’s not a massive problem, to be honest, to find the right line-up.
"It depends on the moment and stuff like this – who played how many minutes… we have the chance (to change), it’s the first time we have it. Usually years ago it was like Sadio and Mo played all the time and Bobby pretty much all the time or Divock played. That was the situation. Maybe that’s the reason why we were never in more competitions.
"Divock Origi was not in the squad today, that’s a joke as well because if you see him training you would think, 'how can you leave him at home?' But that’s it."
Klopp was delighted with his team's victory after they overcame a difficult first half to register a ninth successive Premier League triumph. Liverpool conclude a period of 13 games in 43 days when they journey to Championship side Nottingham Forest on Sunday for their FA Cup quarter-final.
And Klopp said: "We constantly travel, we go here, we go there, we are in the hotel and stuff like this. Since we met last time we had six games more than them I think, 13 and seven if I am right. Thirteen games is really mad and it will not stop.
"Actually, I don’t complain, we don’t complain, it’s just how it is. We wake up in a different hotel and somebody tells you where the restaurant is and you try to remember the number of your room, that’s our life in the moment.
"That’s why I am so happy obviously because coming here to Arsenal in that moment, against this team, winning 2-0, that’s really special. That’s really special."
