Liverpool boss Klopp pleased with squad for stepping up in absence of big names

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp heaped praise on his squad for taking responsibility in the absence of mainstays after they secured a 2-0 win over rivals Arsenal to storm into the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday.

Liverpool went to north London without winger Mohamed Salah, who was with the Egypt squad for the Africa Cup of Nations, and without combative midfielder Wataru Endo, who joined up with Japan for the Asian Cup.

Their defensive talisman and captain, Virgil van Dijk, was also out through illness.

Dominik Szoboszlai, Andrew Robertson, Kostas Tsimikas, Thiago Alcantara, Stefan Bajcetic and Joel Matip are among those injured at Merseyside.

"That's a really good football team we missed. Football is like that. Sometimes you have them all available, it's pretty rare, and sometimes you don't have them available. I'm super-happy," Klopp told reporters.

"First half you could see it didn't click. It was not because of new players or whatever, it was just the timing was bad and that doesn't help.