Arsenal star dubbed 'talent of century' by Jurgen Klopp has not shied away from his toughest rival

Gabriel Martinelli has been a regular thorn in side since his move to from Ituano back in July 2019. The Brazilian finds the net against the Reds more than any other team, with five goals in 11 encounters, including a couple of assists for good measure.

Those strikes make Liverpool his prime target for goals and overall contributions so far. Even though he's only enjoyed victory against the Merseysiders on two occasions, scoring in both those wins in October 2022 and February 2024, it's clear why Martinelli has caught the eye of former Liverpool boss

When a teenage Martinelli faced Klopp's side at Anfield, he immediately impressed, bagging two goals in a wild 5-5 League Cup draw.

Post-match, calling him a "talent of the century" and cheering his maturity and striking prowess.

"Martinelli's pretty much the same age (as my young team) but he's a talent of the century, he's an incredible striker, so it's really difficult," said Klopp. He continued by acknowledging how advanced Martinelli seems for his age: "He's really unbelievable. So young, looks so mature already, is a proper threat. Yeah, he looks like a really decent player."

"I didn't want to put any backpack [pressure] on his back with this thing but I just really like good football players and obviously he's a very good one."

Arsenal's starlet Martinelli shared his pride in an interview with Marca, commenting: “I feel very proud that one of the best tacticians in the world speaks well of me. " After witnessing his team overcome Arsenal in last season's League Cup semi-finals, Klopp remarked on Martinelli: "Little Martinelli, we will talk about this player in the future, I can promise. If he is without major injuries, he will have a proper career."

Despite this talent, Liverpool seems to have found a strategy to negate Martinelli's influence, boasting a strong record against Arsenal.

Perhaps contributing to this is a challenge from a player Martinelli rates as his toughest opponent; despite having moments of success against Alexander-Arnold, Martinelli still finds formidable resistance in the form of the Reds' defender Ibrahima Konate.

"It has to be Walker and Konate from Liverpool," the 23 year old recently told Men in Blazers when asked which Premier League defenders are the toughest to get past. "They are both tough to beat."

Despite returning three goals and two assists from his previous four starts against the Reds - including in successive home encounters - Martinelli was unable to make it an Emirates hat-trick recently.

While he's having a subdued season by his own standards, with just three goals and three assists from 17 appearances so far, it's worth remembering his career-best 15 goals and six assists in the 2022/23 season. That was when Klopp hailed the Brazilian as 'exactly the player he expected'.