Jurgen Klopp has admitted that Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson has surprised him with his footballing ability.
Klopp knew he was getting a solid goalkeeper for £65million in the summer and that has been reflected in the 12 Premier League clean sheets he has accumulated so far.
However, Alisson hit a fine long pass against Arsenal to lay on the fourth goal for Roberto Firmino and Klopp says his technical ability has surprised him.
Klopp told ESPN Brasil: “Well, maybe that Ali is such a good football player.
“It was always very clear that he was a very influential player with the ball, but that he’s this good I didn’t see it, honestly — maybe because of a different style Roma played.
“That was a little bit of a surprise, and a very nice surprise.”
Liverpool have a seven-point lead at the top over Manchester City ahead of the sides’ meeting at the Etihad on Thursday and Klopp is ready.
“I like these games. Sometimes if you prepare a football game, watching two or three games of the opponent, you still have no clue what they are doing.
“With Arsenal, City, Chelsea, Tottenham, it’s really different. You know exactly what they are doing. They are still unbelievably difficult to defend [against], but you can see somehow that they have a clear plan.
“That’s, of course, like this with Man City. They are on the top of that. That makes it really challenging, but it makes it exciting as well. I’m always looking forward to these games.
“But it depends on your own situation as well. If we have a full squad, all players available, then the preparation is a joy. The game itself is unbelievably hard work, but that’s how it is,” added Klopp.