'The crowd was laughing' - Jurgen Klopp reveals role Liverpool analytics department had in Fulham win

Jurgen Klopp has revealed how Liverpool’s analytics department played a vital role in the Reds’ 3-1 victory over Fulham.

Trent-Alexander Arnold opened the scoring for Liverpool with a stunning 25-yard free-kick moments after Harvey Elliott had sent a low set-piece into the wall. And speaking after the final whistle, Klopp revealed that the club’s analytics team had spotted that the Reds could potentially benefit from shooting under a wall from a free-kick scenario.

And while it didn’t work out for Elliott, the Liverpool boss believes such a strike contributed to Alexander-Arnold being able to find the top corner soon after.

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“(Doesn’t score free-kicks) often enough actually, I would say!” Klopp joked about Alexander-Arnold. “I think Harvey Elliott has 10% or 15% of the goal because we analysed Fulham and saw the wall is jumping and told Harvey try to go under it.

“They obviously were not really jumping, only a little bit so Harvey could not go through with it. The crowd was laughing. But pretty sure, maybe next the time the wall didn’t jump as high as they maybe usually do. Great free-kick, he has that from time to time.

“Wonderful goals. Bernd Leno asked me after the game, ‘What kind of goals do you always score against us?’ He probably means against him! Yeah, that’s true. We had a few crazy ones but we needed it.

“It was a great goal. The other goals were as good. For a long period of time, Trent was exceptional. Super helpful to have him back.”

Alexander-Arnold made his first start in two months against Atalanta on Thursday, winning the early penalty for Mohamed Salah to score the winner, before netting the opener against Fulham.

And while Conor Bradley had shone in the England international’s absence, Klopp admitted the return of Alexander-Arnold can b game-changing for Liverpool as they look to finish the season strongly after a difficult fortnight on the pitch.

“It’s super important (to have him back),” he said. “But one of the shooting stars of this season is Conor Bradley. He played the positions and he played a few games of football where we all thought, ‘wow, what was that?’

“Nobody is like Trent. That’s how it is. The way we play with him can be different. So yes, super helpful, I’m really happy about that.”

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