Klopp Reveals Why He Subbed Off Salah In Liverpool's 3-2 Defeat To Arsenal

Jurgen Klopp revealed why he subbed off Mohamed Salah in Liverpool FC's 3-2 defeat to Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday.

Bukayo Saka's penalty in the second half handed the Gunners the victory and put them back at the top of the 2022-23 Premier League table.

Mikel Arteta's Arsenal were off to a super start at Emirates Stadium when Gabriel Martinelli put them ahead after 58 seconds before Liverpool struck back with Darwin Nunez's equalizer after 34 minutes. Saka restored Arsenal's lead in the first-half added time. Roberto Firmino, who replaced injured Luis Diaz, fired the ball beyond keeper Aaron Ramsdale to make it 2-2.

Klopp made two changes soon into the second half as he removed Salah for Fabinho, with Jordan Henderson moving into the right side of the midfield.

In a post-match conference, when reporters asked Klopp about his decision to substitute Salah, the German boss replied, "We had to defend again on a high level and we tried to put Hendo on that side there. Mo did unbelievable, a lot, really big, big workload. He put in a real shift and sometimes that's very intense and that's why we thought we can do it with Hendo. We still wanted to win even when we took a striker off."

The 3-2 loss to Arsenal marked Liverpool's second defeat of the league season. With two losses, four draws and just two victories, the Reds are placed 10th in the table with 10 points, 12 behind table-toppers Arsenal.

Klopp also admitted that he was "very disappointed" with his team's performance Sunday.

"Yes. Very disappointed. I think around all three goals we made decisive mistakes. The first goal was definitely too early and in our situation, it was obviously not what you need to get a foot in the game," added Klopp.

The match at Emirates was fuelled by a couple of controversial decisions that left the visiting side fuming. While Liverpool were left angered by the penalty Arsenal received, which eventually turned out to be the winner, the referee did not award a penalty to the Reds when Trent Alexander-Arnold was fouled on and when Gabriel Maghalhaes handled Diogo Jota's cross.

After the game, Liverpool center-back Virgil van Dijk also insisted that Arsenal shouldn't have received the penalty in the second half.

"Very disappointing. Obviously, it was a very tough game for both sides. We had good moments, we had bad moments and it got decided by a penalty that from our point of view wasn't a penalty. It's gone so quick, I have no idea how it looked in slow motion, but unfortunately, we couldn't get the points to bring with us back to Liverpool," said Van Dijk.

Liverpool's upcoming fixture is in the Champions League against Rangers on Wednesday, before they host Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday.