Curtis Jones accuses Arsenal of 'stealing' key Liverpool attribute
- Arsenal faced wave of criticism for 'over celebrating' 3-1 win over Liverpool
- Jones believes Gunners were trying to mimic Liverpool's on-field celebrations
- Jurgen Klopp's Reds remain two points ahead in the Premier League title race
By Tom Gott
Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones has accused Arsenal of "stealing" their extravagant style of celebrating victories.
The Gunners drew criticism from a handful of Reds supporters for their celebrations after the recent 3-1 victory over Liverpool, with captain Martin Odegaard taking the photographer's camera to immortalise the moment.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was also spotted pumping his fists in front of the fans - a move Jones believes was a direct rip-off of Jurgen Klopp's celebrations in front of the Kop at Anfield.
"Listen, that’s why I’ve got to shut it all down in a respectful way, I’d say," he told BBC Sport. "The celebrations and all, that is all nice but for many years, we’ve always been a team, our fans have spoken about it and the gaffer himself, you know, the way he fist bumps the fans and stuff. That’s kind of like our thing.
"So if they want to be stealing our stuff, then it shows that we’re on the right path and we’ve got these who are copying us."
Former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher was a leading voice in the criticism of Odegaard, who wasted little time in laughing off the drama and defending his actions.
Arsenal's victory saw them close the gap at the top of the Premier League table to just two points, with Liverpool still sitting pretty in first ahead of this weekend's visit from strugglers Burnley.
Manchester City, however, also sit two points behind Liverpool but boast an extra game in hand. Pep Guardiola's side face Everton in Saturday's early kick-off and could move to the top of the standings with a victory before the action gets underway at Anfield.
READ THE LATEST TRANSFER NEWS & GOSSIP FROM AROUND THE WORLD
feed