If Reds can tame these masters of Paris.. they should fear nobody
IF Liverpool keep a clean sheet in either of their two Champions League fixtures against Paris Saint-germain, it will say more about their Premier League title credentials than any top-flight fixture.
Because just like Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham, PSG are top-end European opponents.
And if Jurgen Klopp’s side can keep the door bolted against Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani, then there’s no reason they can’t do the same in the biggest league games this season.
Overall, things could not be better for Liverpool.
They are going into games knowing they will create chances and score goals, but there’s also a confidence they can
keep a clean sheet, too. The defence will be tested harder than it has been in their first five games of the season but, if it’s a test they pass, it won’t half stand them in good stead both in Europe and domestically.
The fact both sides have 100 per cent records means that something has to give.
And there is another subplot with Klopp (right) versus Thomas Tuchel, the man who replaced him at Borussia Dortmund.
I’m wondering if Klopp will have a look at the back four from the Tottenham game on Saturday and believe there’s anything to change, because there were times when they were a little flaky.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men deserved nothing from the game, but could still have come away with a draw, had a penalty been awarded for Sadio Mane’s last-minute foul on Son Heung-min.
Tuchel analyses games in the same way as Pep Guardiola. He’ll have been thinking, ‘If we play the ball in this certain area in front of Joe Gomez, then eventually he is going to crack, and if we really put Trent Alexander-arnold under pressure, perhaps he will do the same’.
There will be times when PSG take Liverpool into areas of the field they don’t want to go and I am keen to see how they respond in those moments. But, even so, the way Liverpool are playing, I don’t think Tuchel can outthink Klopp.
Nobody does more preparation before games than Guardiola yet his Manchester City side got done by Liverpool over two legs in the quarter-finals last season. That’s why Klopp will be telling his players, ‘Hey, we played against better teams than this to reach the final last year, so we don’t fear anyone in this competition’.
I see Klopp as less of a tactician and more a supreme motivator in the mould of Bill Shankly and Brian Clough.
He’ll be saying to his men, ‘If we get our system right we can let them worry about us’, and that will mean the French champions having to earn the right to play their game.
Klopp knows that if he can get his team in a 4-3-3 with pace on the front foot, playing attacking football, that teams from outside the Premier League will wonder if they can cope.
It’s a question PSG will be asking and it’s why Liverpool could not be in a better position going into another great European night at Anfield.