FROM ANFIELD - After Liverpool and Manchester City had played out an engrossing, high-quality 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon, much of the debate seemed to centre on who exactly this result most benefited.
Arsenal seemed like the obvious answer given that, with both sides dropping points at Anfield, they were handed control of the Premier League title race.
There was also a strong case for City, who weathered a second-half storm at a stadium they have rarely enjoyed visiting to stay just a point off the summit going into a period where they habitually show their best.
But the true answer seemed to be revealed by the toothy grin that Jurgen Klopp could not wipe off his face as he whisked through his post-match media commitments.
The German’s happiness was no doubt partly down to the fact that his team had avoided a defeat that would have left them in the unenviable position of having to chase down both Arsenal and Manchester City across the next 10 games.
And a draw was perhaps more palatable than it might have been given that the Reds’ title rivals have to face each other at the Etihad Stadium in three weeks’ time.
However, in reality, Klopp’s joy actually owed more to the way his players had performed en route to claiming a share of the spoils, and that they had probably deserved more. After a largely even first half defined by a clever Manchester City set-piece, Liverpool simply found another gear to put on a remarkably dominant showing in the second.
For much of it, the world champions and treble holders were being taken apart, failing to contain a ceaseless barrage pressure that Pep Guardiola later likened to a “tsunami”.
As for Klopp, he enthusiastically summed it up as: “On the scale I rate football games there is no higher scale than playing the best football you can play against Man City, causing City the problems we caused them today.
“I was not here in the press conference but probably Pep saw it as well, that this was a different game to other games we played against them. Very often when we won it was counter-attack, quick-thinking, shots from distance.
“How we played through the midfield today, that was some of the best moments of my coaching career, to be honest, that we are able to do that against them.”
The manager would later claim that his players had proven here that they are not just reliant on the grit that underpinned the recent Carabao Cup final victory or that last-gasp win at Nottingham Forest.
Instead, they showed they can also mix it with the best, and that their involvement in a title race with a hugely impressive City and Arsenal is based entirely on merit.
Crucially, they also performed so incredibly with nine players missing, five of whom it could be argued would have started in Trent Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota, Curtis Jones, Alisson Becker and Ibrahima Konate.
On the topic of injuries, Klopp added: “Today, Ibou Konate is out then we start all three of our other centre-halves and if one goes down and we play in the next six days two games with two centre-halves which play all the time.
“All these kind of things are really tricky but we came through it, and that’s why I said we played really good football in that time and we were lucky in moments: winning late, fighting hard, 99th minute and 118th minute and stuff like this.
“We don’t take that for granted but today the performance was really like, ‘One or two players back, we can change like we changed, oh yeah, that is cool’ and that is why I am really happy about that today.”
In fact, the most important aspect of Liverpool ensuring they did not lose ground in the title race on Sunday could well be that they now have a three-week gap until their next Premier League outing.
The hope is that as many of four of their injured stars will be back for that clash with Brighton, providing a depth that will significantly boost their chances of sustaining this form into the run-in. Should that prove to be the case, then Klopp’s full-time delight following a draw that saw his team surrender top spot will ultimately be vindicated.
