'Jurgen Klopp can't help losing the plot - but it's Liverpool's secret weapon'

Perhaps Jurgen Klopp simply cannot help losing the plot in the technical area and beyond.

Or perhaps it is a well-considered trick he holds up his sleeve, perhaps it is an organised ruse.

Let's face it, Klopp gets away with all sorts of touchline antics, on a regular basis. As does Pep Guardiola, by the way.

Klopp's profile seems to have earned him an easy disciplinary ride and it is about time that changed.

But in the meanwhile, his histrionics will remain a small part of Liverpool's armoury. They will remain a useful weapon.

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Because before his finger-pointing, face-pulling bust-up with Mikel Arteta just after the half-hour mark, this game was flat and Arsenal were, to a certain degree, looking comfortable.

It was unclear which manager instigated an exchange which prompted a bit of physical restraint - restraint they were happy to succumb to, thankfully.

If there was a villain of the piece, it might even have been Arteta.

But one thing is for sure, Klopp having a pop at an ex-Evertonian turned a run-of-the-mill Premier League grind into one of those raucous, rousing, European-style nights.

The crowd got fired up, Sadio Mane got fired up, broke the deadlock and Liverpool were on their way to second place in the Premier League.

Arsenal did not stand a chance once Liverpool caught the mood after the touchline kerfuffle.

Of course, it might have been a coincidence but after the managerial handbags, Liverpool went on the rampage as only Liverpool can.

What also helps is when you have an attacking unit of this calibre.

Let's park some rancid Arsenal defending, for a moment.

Mane's aerial prowess is one of his under-rated strengths and Trent Alexander-Arnold's nicely-hit free-kick still needed some converting.

And while the opportunity was a gift from Nuno Tavares, Diogo Jota's double-sidestep and finish was a piece of calm brilliance to put Liverpool two ahead.

Any three from the four of Mane, Jota, Mohamed Salah and the currently-injured Roberto Firmino, simply works.

The movement from the front trio is, nearly always, exceptional and when matched with the sort of clinical instinct shown by Mane and Jota here, you know why Liverpool are, by some distance, the Premier League's top scorers.

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But they did have a fair bit of opposition help on this occasion.

As decent as Alexander-Arnold's assist and Mane's run were, it was a simple set-piece that should have been defended.

And the Tavares mistake ahead of the second goal was as predictable as it was glaring.

Playing out from the back is now such a common practice, it will soon seem novel when a team simply launches it.

We will all soon be nostalgic about the good old Route One days, pine for a goalkeeping drop-kick, hanker after a Wimbledon-style kick and rush.

But Arteta's Arsenal are taking the system of passing in your own danger area to new levels.

When Tavares passed to Jota just outside the Arsenal penalty area, it was not the first mistake of that ilk and was most certainly not the last.

But while this ended up as a total pasting, Arsenal do look a better team when they play out of the back - even though it had some dire consequences on this occasion.

Anyhow, no matter what defensive approach they had taken, they would have found Liverpool - post bust-up Liverpool - irresistible. That is beyond doubt.

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The attacking trio combined to allow Salah to score the third and the Egyptian was involved in the build-up to the fourth, scored by substitute Takumi Minamino.

By then, Arsenal were in some disarray and Arteta looked ready for a fight with himself, never mind with Klopp.

When Michael Oliver called time on the rout, Klopp and Arteta engaged in a brief handshake but the Liverpool manager's work was done.

He had got Anfield fired up, his players fired up and his team back on the up.

Some operator.