Jurgen Klopp names Liverpool player who produced a 'top performance' in Sparta Prague victory

Jurgen Klopp told of his delight to see Bobby Clark continue to 'develop and flourish' after scoring his maiden Liverpool goal.

The 19-year-old was on target in the Reds' 6-1 routing of Sparta Prague in the Europa League last-16 second leg at Anfield. Clark, making his 11th senior appearance of the season, netted in the eighth minute with a composed finish. Just two minutes later, he won the ball off Sparta that subsequently allowed Mo Salah to bag his 20th goal of the season - becoming the first player in Liverpool history to do so for seven consecutive seasons. Clark had to be substituted in the second half after suffering an ankle issue.

The midfielder has long been highly rated by Klopp and his coaching staff, having been signed from Newcastle United in the summer of 2021. And it was not just his contributions in front of goal that Klopp was impressed by. The Liverpool manager said: "Bobby, it’s really nice to see the boys develop and flourish, to be honest. That was a top performance of Bobby. A real performance. Goal yes.

"But he set up whichever goal with winning the ball back up high, really high pressing situation – top, top, top. And then controlling a football game, with all the excitement inside that he definitely still has, is fantastic. He is the only one we worry a little bit [about injury-wise]; I hope it’s nothing but he sat there and said he felt something, so we had to take him off. Besides that, everybody else should be fine."

Salah bagged his first goal since for Liverpool returning from a hamstring injury. The winger has etched himself into Anfield folklore since arriving from AS Roma in 2017, playing a pivotal role in the Reds winning seven major trophies and scoring a total of 206 goals - placing him fifth in the club's all-time list.

On the Egyptian's latest feat, Klopp said: "I’ve worked seven years together with him, so one problem we never had was consistency. Mo is just delivering and delivering and delivering, his desire doesn’t stop. His quality is anyway there, but then his desire to score just doesn’t stop. He improved in so many aspects since he started here. He will not stop. So, I’m less surprised than maybe some others, I thought it had already happened, to be honest, in this season but he was injured for a while and that’s why he couldn’t do it [earlier] otherwise it would have happened in January or February. So, great, very good and, as I said, great to have him back."