Jurgen Klopp was pleased by the manner of Liverpool’s response to an early concession as they played out a compelling 1-1 Premier League draw with Arsenal.

The Reds were behind after four minutes of Saturday evening’s Premier League tussle, with Gabriel heading in at the Kop end from a set-piece. But Mohamed Salah soon equalised with an emphatic finish – created by a Trent Alexander-Arnold assist Klopp hailed as one of the finest passes he has ever seen.

Liverpool had the better of the second half at Anfield, with substitute Joe Gomez a whisker away with a curler before Alexander-Arnold hit the crossbar at the end of a rapid counter-attack. The result left the Gunners top of the table, a point ahead of Klopp’s men in second.

Assessing the game at his post-match press conference, the Reds boss was asked what it says about the strength of the title credentials of both sides. “I saw top teams, that’s what I saw,” he said, adding: “What does that say about City, Tottenham, Aston Villa? Nothing. They are top teams as well, and others as well who maybe have a little bit less points but are there as well.

“I just saw two really good football teams, a really good game, super-intense. Top, top, top moments for us; could have won, maybe should have won. In all the interviews I had so far, I forgot completely Trent’s [shot off the] crossbar. That’s why I said, ‘I’m not sure, they could have [won]’ but with that chance we should have won the game. I only realised that when I had the radio interview.

“Besides that, they had the better start, we came super back in the game. Anfield was outstanding tonight, I think everybody felt it. It was brutal. It was nice to see what we can do all together. The reaction to the 1-0 was fantastic. We were super-intense, nearly too intense; we tried massively to influence from outside that we have to calm down in moments, that we have to mix it up a little bit better. That’s what we did, created really good moments with that.”