On the first-half display, he was direct without any excuses: "I won't look for reasons. It was as if Southampton had come fully prepared and we were still finding our feet. Their tempo was much higher—they pressed us aggressively up front and disrupted our rhythm. That kind of intensity is difficult to maintain over ninety minutes or across a full season, but they certainly did it in the first half."
Regarding Flamini's dismissal, Wenger was vague but also skeptical. "I'll review the replay, but I felt the decision was a touch harsh. He did make contact with the ball. In a running tackle, both feet can leave the ground—if that alone constitutes a red card, then yes, he should have been sent off. But if we're talking about deliberate foul play, then I disagree. He was going for the ball. The referee has made his decision; We accept it."
He also confirmed that Ramsey's return would be delayed: "Yes, he had to leave training early yesterday—the same area as the previous injury. We need to be cautious, so he'll be out longer than we'd planned. He certainly won't be available for Sunday."
On Wilshere, who had also been absent, Wenger was brief: "It's not serious. He'll be back soon."
With injuries growing and Flamini now suspended, questions about winter reinforcements grew louder. Wenger, however, gave little away: "I have nothing to announce tonight—but I would like to have something to tell you, because we have lost several players."
Reading all this, Julien considered his feelings with some care. He was French, as Wenger was French, as Flamini and Giroud and others at Arsenal were French and there was a strand of fellow-feeling in that.
He hoped Arsenal would fight their way into the top four. Champions League football for a club of their quality and history seemed right. As for the PL title itself well. That was a different calculation.
That, he intended to win himself.
Back at Melwood, the good news of returning to first place brought no wild celebration. The players were pleased, in their contained way but Klopp made certain to temper any looseness from the first session of the week.
He returned, again and again, to a single theme: their single-competition advantage.
"Right now we don't have Europe to worry about—this is our chance to build a real lead. The other clubs at the top are playing Thursday-Sunday. We play Saturday-Tuesday, or Sunday-Wednesday. Every time they recover, we prepare. Don't waste that. But don't let the pressure of sitting top get inside your heads either. Execute the tactics. Win the games in front of you. The gap takes care of itself."
It was not a complicated message.
Matchday 24 of the Premier League arrived on the second of February. Liverpool travelled to The Hawthorns, where Tony Pulis's West Brom waited with organised, physical resistance that made them one of the more genuinely uncomfortable away fixtures in the division as they were disciplined and difficult to break down.
They would set up deep, concede the ball without sentiment, and rely on their shape holding and their set-piece delivery causing problems at the other end. It was honest football. It worked often enough to earn respect.
It didn't work against Liverpool.
What the hosts lacked was the quality difference to punish any hesitation, and Liverpool brought none. They controlled the match calmly from the first whistle.
The breakthrough arrived in the thirty-second minute.
Julien had been operating in the left half-space, slightly deeper than his natural attacking position.
De Bruyne found him with a diagonal pass of precision, the ball arrived just ahead of the stride and away from the nearest defender.
Julien's first touch redirected it, killing the pace and shifting the ball into space simultaneously. Two defenders joined on him. He moved between them and when he finally committed a low drive well-placed rolling into the far corner before the goalkeeper's weight had fully shifted.
The travelling Liverpool supporters erupted.
The songs went up immediately.
After the interval, Liverpool pressed on without relenting and Suárez became active.
In the fifty-seventh minute, Gerrard delivered a through ball bisecting West Brom's defensive line through a gap. Suárez read it, beated the offside trap with an intelligent timing and took two touches to compose himself and rolled the ball coolly past the goalkeeper.
Two–nil.
Ten minutes later, Julien burst down the right flank and drove to the byline before delivering a cross that arrived low and fast at the back post.
Suárez had already begun his run away from his marker. He met the ball with a powerful header.
Three–nil.
Liverpool strolled through the final twenty minutes. West Brom continued to work, to run but there was nothing left to find.
The final whistle confirmed this 3–0 away win.
Meanwhile Arsenal had beaten Crystal Palace at home that kept them level on 55 points but the goal difference remained Liverpool's. The Reds still led.
At the post-match press conference, Klopp spoke with satisfaction.
"Three-nil—a perfect result. The players carried out the game plan in every department. The finishing, the defensive discipline, the pressing—all of it. As for the league table, we're not thinking too far ahead. We're not obsessing over the gap to Arsenal. Titles aren't imagined—they're won, one game at a time. Keep winning the matches we're supposed to win, and the rest takes care of itself."
When asked about Julien and Suárez, Klopp was generous: "They're the twin engines of our attack. Julien's ability to run at defenders, to find space between the lines, to make the right decision under pressure and Suárez's finishing, his movement, his relentlessness. Both were decisive today. A partnership like that gives you confidence against anyone."
Wenger, conducting his own press duties after Arsenal's Crystal Palace win, was predictably asked about Liverpool.
"Liverpool have been exceptional this season. Their tactical discipline, the consistency of their key players—it all merits where they are in the table. They're the strongest challenger in this title race."
When a reporter pushed further and asked: "Liverpool had drawn at the Emirates back in November; could Arsenal go to Anfield and take a result?"
Wenger considered the question for a moment before answering.
"Anfield is one of the hardest grounds in the world to go to. The atmosphere creates enormous pressure on visiting teams from the first minute. We know that very well. Every team that's played there this season has felt it."
He continued: "The last time we played them, at home, we showed we can compete. We just couldn't take our chances when they came. This time, away from home, the dynamic is different and we know that. We'll prepare properly. We'll make tactical adjustments, try to limit the influence of their most dangerous players. The fixture list is punishing at this stage of the season, but we won't back down from any of it. We'll give everything to every contest that matters.
Confidence comes from preparation. We'll go to Anfield in the best possible shape. And then we fight for the result."
Three days later, on the fifth of February, the League Cup Semi-Final second leg took Liverpool north to the Stadium of Light, where Sunderland awaited with nothing-to-lose ferocity.
Klopp made sweeping changes. Julien, Suárez, Gerrard, Van Dijk—the core of the side, the players most central to Liverpool's identity and most heavily loaded across the season were all rested, dropped to the bench.
Robertson, Lucas, and a clutch of younger players filled the starting positions.
The logic needed no explanation.
The tie was dead. The next match was Arsenal.
Klopp had made a career of thinking clearly about what mattered most and making the decisions that clarity demanded, regardless of how they looked in the short term.
Resting first-team players on a League Cup semi-final second leg with a five-goal advantage was the obvious consequence of any rational analysis.
Sunderland, with nothing to lose, came out swinging—driving forward in search of a lifeline. The makeshift Liverpool side lacked the fluid understanding of the first team, but their defensive structure was solid, and they absorbed the pressure without buckling.
Then, against the run of play, Liverpool scored. In the twenty-eighth minute, Coutinho cut inside and struck a curling effort from distance that bent perfectly into the corner.
The goal settled matters. Liverpool slowed the tempo, circulated the ball, and managed the game. The fringe players and youngsters used the occasion to develop their understanding of Klopp's system and to remind the manager they were available.
After the break, Sunderland threw more bodies forward. In the sixty-seventh minute, they pulled one back. A corner, McGiddy floated it into the box, and Brown headed home.
One–one.
Sunderland pressed hard. But Liverpool held firm. De Bruyne, who had come off the bench, combined with Kanté to lock down the midfield and snuff out each subsequent threat.
The match ended 1–1.
Liverpool advanced 6–1 on aggregate, booking their place in the League Cup Final.
The players' celebration was hushed.
Three days from now, they had a far bigger fight on their hands: Arsenal, at Anfield.
________________________________________________________
Check out my patreon where you can read more chapters:
patreon.com/LorianFiction
Thanks for your support!