Liverpool’s five best performances against Premier League’s big 6 under Jurgen Klopp

Liverpool earned the nickname ‘Robinhood’ last season after they ended the campaign undefeated against the Premier League’s big six, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs, while dropping points to the likes of Hull City, Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Swansea City.

Jurgen Klopp has a terrific record against the big six as Liverpool manager. Across all competitions, he has played 23 games against these teams, winning 11 games, drawing 11 and losing just one! Given below is a breakdown of how Klopp’s Liverpool have fared against each team.

Breakdown of Klopp's record against the big 6

Liverpool average an impressive 1.91 points per game against the big 6 under Klopp. If you add Everton to the list, the average jumps to 2.03 because Klopp has a perfect record against the local rivals (3 matches, 3 wins, 8 goals scored, 1 goal conceded and 2 cleansheets).

Very few managers have got the better of managers like Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho and Klopp has done a trick on both of them several times. Against Mourinho, Klopp has won three games, lost one and drawn four.

Guardiola on the other hand averages 1.3 points per game against Klopp which is his worst record against any manager he has faced at least five times. Interestingly though, in 10 meetings between Klopp and Guardiola, both managers have won four games each and the remaining two were drawn.

Guardiola will face his nemesis once again this weekend and before the match, let’s take a look at Liverpool’s top 5 performances against the Premier League’s big boys under Jurgen Klopp.

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#5 Chelsea 1-3 Liverpool, 31 October 2015

Coutinho scored a brace against Chelsea at the Bridge

When Liverpool play Chelsea, the significance of the game is usually high. However, this particular game’s significance had nothing to do with the title race or a Champions League spot.

Defending Premier League champions Chelsea had a horrible start to the season and were 15th in the table, whereas Liverpool were 9th and searching for their first Premier League win under new manager Klopp.

Chelsea started the game brightly and went 1-0 up in just four minutes courtesy of a goal from Ramires.

Under Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool struggled to win games after going behind, but Klopp wanted to change that mentality. Undaunted after going behind early at Stamford Bridge, the Reds fought valiantly and equalized through Philippe Coutinho right on the stroke of halftime.

The Brazilian put the Reds 2-1 in front in the second half before substitute Christian Benteke added a third.

Liverpool ended the game with 57% possession, 16 shots, 7 on target and 7 corners. In comparison, Chelsea had 43% possession, 8 shots, 2 on target and just one corner.

The win was Klopp’s first in the Premier League and the match is also famous for Jose Mourinho’s famous “I have nothing to say” comments in his post match interview.

#4 Liverpool 3-0 Manchester City, 2 March 2016

Liverpool bounced back from a cup final defeat to annihilate Manchester City

"It doesn't matter what I say. It does not change the result. We all have to feel it now. You can fall, but you have to stand up. We have to carry on, we will carry on." - Jurgen Klopp

Jurgen Klopp said these inspirational words following Liverpool’s defeat to Manchester City on penalties in the final of the League Cup on 28 February 2016. On 2 March, the teams met again in a Premier League encounter.

Jon Flanagan made a crunching tackle on Raheem Sterling in the very first minute and that set the tone of the game. Liverpool were still hurting from the defeat in the final and wanted nothing but vengeance.

Right from the offset, Manchester City were thoroughly outplayed by Klopp's side. The Reds took a deserved lead in the 34th minute through an Adam Lallana goal before former Manchester City player James Milner scored and celebrated the second as half-time approached.

The second half was more of the same and Roberto Firmino added a third to seal the game.

Although Liverpool won 4-1 at Etihad earlier in that season under Klopp, the significance of this match was huge as it was a test of the players’ mentality and they passed with flying colours.

#3 Liverpool 2-0 Manchester United, 10 March 2016

Liverpool scored twice despite De Gea's best efforts

Klopp has tasted defeat once against the big 6 as Liverpool manager and it was against Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United at Anfield in a league game. Liverpool played very well in that match but were constantly denied by the ever-reliable David De Gea and ended up losing to a sucker punch goal.

Nearly two months after this defeat, the two teams were pitted against each other in the UEFA Europa League and it was the first ever meeting of England’s most successful clubs in Europe.

Liverpool dominated the first leg at Anfield and took the lead from the spot in the 20th minute courtesy of Daniel Sturridge. Despite De Gea’s best efforts to restrict the scoreline, the Reds added a second in the 73rd minute through Roberto Firmino to take a healthy lead into the second leg.

Although the score was only 2-0, Liverpool had 56% possession, 13 shots, 8 on target and 7 corners and in stark contrast, Manchester United had 44% possession, 5 shots, 1 on target and 0 corners!

The second leg at Old Trafford ended 1-1 with Coutinho scoring a brilliant individual goal that left De Gea red faced.

#2 Arsenal 3-4 Liverpool, 14 August 2016

The Reds came back from behind to secure an emphatic win on the opening day of the season

Arsenal’s 2016/17 season started and ended in anguish thanks to Liverpool. The Merseyside club embarrassed Arsenal at the Emirates on the first matchday of the season and on the final matchday, narrowly pipped the Gunners to the final Champions League spot.

In the first half of the game, Theo Walcott put the hosts in the lead moments after missing a penalty. The Gunners were clearly the superior side for most of the first half but they gave Liverpool a way back into the game with a free kick in the dying minutes of the half which Coutinho gleefully converted.

Coutinho’s goal shifted the momentum Liverpool’s way and within 18 minutes of the second half, Liverpool were leading 4-1 through goals from Lallana, Coutinho and Mane.

Arsenal put on an unlikely fight back immediately with now Liverpool player, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, scoring a minute after the visitors' fourth. Ten minutes later, they cut down Liverpool’s lead to just one goal.

However, despite Arsenal’s best efforts, Liverpool's brilliant performance in the early parts of the second half was enough for them to see the game through.

#1 Liverpool 4-0 Arsenal, 27 August 2017

Arsenal couldn't muster a single shot on target against a rampant Liverpool side

Liverpool’s first and so far only match against a top 6 side this season was against Arsenal at Anfield and they ran riot. The home side won the game 4-0, but the scoreline could have been worse if it wasn’t for some brilliant saves from Petr Cech.

Cech kept Liverpool at bay in the opening exchanges but his resilience was finally broken by Firmino who scored with a header in the 17th minute. Five minutes before half-time, Mane brilliantly finished off a counter attacking move to double the lead.

In the second half, Mohamed Salah scored Liverpool’s third, 12 seconds after an Arsenal corner, before the Egyptian set up Daniel Sturridge for the fourth goal of the game.

Liverpool had 18 shots with 10 on target while Arsenal had 8 shots with none on target! Such was the domination Liverpool had over the Gunners. Some ridiculous statistics on the game reveal the extent of how good Liverpool were and how bad Arsenal were on the night.