Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has praised Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta ahead of the Monday Premier League showdown between two sides.
"Mikel Arteta showed in a very short period of time that he seems to be an exceptional football manager, obviously, because the team he sets up now – the structure of the team – is absolutely exceptional," he said as cited by the Reds' official website.
"You can see the balance between defence and offense is really good, you can see a lot of things which obviously are pretty helpful in football – good organisation but freedom for the players as well, uses the players in the right positions.
"I have to say, since he’s there he did a pretty impressive job, to be honest, and changed I think the whole mood in the club.
"I don’t know exactly what the mood was before he arrived but I don’t think a lot of people thought at the end of the season he would have won any competition or something like that – and he did that by winning the FA Cup and winning the [FA Community Shield].
"That’s pretty impressive, I have to say. So it’s a tough, tough, tough opponent, 100 per cent."
Thanks to Jurgen Klopp for acknowledging the strengths of our manager as it becomes increasingly clear to everyone in the Premier League that Arsenal are really back among the competition's elite teams.
Mikel Arteta has lifted the team from the mess the Gunners used to be under Unai Emery, changing the mentality and forging a winning mindset in the squad.
Arsenal's notoriously leaky defence has drastically improved under the Spaniard as he turned Shkodran Mustafi into a peak Paolo Maldini. And while the Gunners are struggling with creating chances, goals somehow keep coming.
Liverpool and Klopp have already been on the receiving end of Arteta's new-look Arsenal as the reigning Premier League champions suffered two defeats at the hands of the Gunners.
In July, Arsenal conceded first but managed to beat their opponents thanks to Reiss Nelson and Alex Lacazette's goals and a stringent defensive display in the second half.
And back in August, the Gunners defeated the Red in the Community Shield, edging Klopp's side on penalties.
Perhaps the German tactician has come up with something to surprise Arteta with. But we are confident the Arsenal boss, who has already outsmarted the likes of Pep Guardiola, Brendan Rodgers and Frank Lampard in his first nine months in football management, will think of something special to beat Klopp one more time next Monday.
What do you expect from Arsenal on Monday?
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