Liverpool boss Klopp tells fans 'we need you' for Arsenal - ESPN

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had a message for his team's fans ahead of its table-topping Premier League match with Arsenal on Saturday: «We need Anfield on their toes.»

Klopp's side, one point behind leaders Arsenal in the table, was coming off a runaway 5-1 win at Anfield over West Ham United in the Carabao Cup quarterfinals, and the German coach seemed to call into question the level of enthusiasm he heard from fans during the match.

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«But I have to say, it's long ago that I said it, I thought it in the first half a little bit, when the boys played really exceptional, I was not overly happy,» Klopp said after the match. «I have to say it now, with the atmosphere behind me. I asked people, 'What do you want?'

»So, we changed a lot of things, we dominate West Ham like crazy, we missed chances. If I would be in the stand, I would be on my toes, one-thousand-percent."

Curtis Jones scored two well-taken goals before the hour, but it wasn't until Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo and talisman Mohamed Salah, who came on as a late substitute, scored that the game turned into a rout.

Liverpool also were coming off a disappointing 0-0 draw against Manchester United on Sunday — a game in which Klopp said his team had played well without getting a win — and he acknowledged that might have affected the crowd's attitude on Wednesday.

«I don't know if the Man United game was that bad that we have to say, 'Oh, sorry that we didn't smash them,'» Klopp said. «We need Anfield on Saturday. Without Anfield, I would say… [Arsenal] didn't play this week… they prepared for this game, and [those] who know a little bit about them, they will be prepared.

»So, we need Anfield on their toes from