Klopp’s the man for the big occasion.. that’s why he’ll Kop a trophy before Pochettino

JURGEN KLOPP will land his first trophy in England before Mauricio Pochettino – because he is the man for the big occasion.

Big games bring out the best in top bosses – and since Klopp took over at Liverpool in October 2015, he has a better record against top-six rivals than anyone.

But Liverpool’s crushing 4-1 defeat by Tottenham at Wembley 11 months ago was a major blip.

With Hugo Lloris and Dele Alli missing for Spurs this time, it is a huge opportunity for Klopp’s team to make another statement about their title credentials – although Heung-min Son’s return is a boost for the Londoners.

Look at the table of headto-head Premier League results between the big six over the last three years.

It tells me Liverpool get fired up by Klopp when the stakes are highest and it is dropped points against so-called lesser teams which will determine if they can overhaul Manchester City as champions.

This game with Tottenham is a meeting of the club who spent nothing in summer and the biggest spenders of all after Liverpool’s £170million investment on big-name reinforcements.

Does Klopp or Pochettino need to win a trophy this season?

Sooner or later, they have to break their duck.

Both managers get pats on the back for the way their teams play, but Jose Mourinho gets pelters for the style of football at Old Trafford – yet he won two trophies in his first season at Manchester United.

Sometimes in football you are either a winner or a stylist. Or in Pep Guardiola’s case at City, both. I don’t think Pochettino is under pressure yet. Tottenham will be content for him to deliver another top-four finish and christen the club’s new stadium with Champions League football. But I think Liverpool are well-stocked for the twin challenges of a title race and Champions League campaign. As well as bringing in Xherdan Shaqiri, Naby Keita, Fabinho and Alisson, Virgil van Dijk looks like a world-class centre-back, Daniel Sturridge is fit again and Klopp presided over the Premier League’s best defensive record in 2018. Interestingly, Brighton striker Glenn Murray said on my 5 Live Premier League Breakfast Show that Van Dijk is the hardest defender he has faced.

Perhaps VVD will be the biggest single influence on Liverpool winning a trophy or their first title in 29 years.

It will be tough to overturn the 25-point gap between City and Liverpool last season, but Klopp has already proved he can win the title when the odds are stacked against him.

He won the Bundesliga with Dortmund – despite Bayern Munich being as powerful in German football as City are in England now.

His teams often serve up free-flowing, free-scoring, ‘heavy metal’ football to blow teams away. It’s the chiselling out the scrappy 1-0 wins, like the one against Brighton, which will make the difference.

Pochettino has done a magnificent job to turn Tottenham into contenders every year, but with two key players missing we might be about to find out whether the quality in his squad runs deep enough.

Spurs made an excellent start, topped by that 3-0 win at Old Trafford, but six days later they lost at Watford.

At what point would Tottenham fans prefer to swap high-tempo, artistic football for pragmatism and trophies in the cabinet?

It would be a fine achievement if Spurs managed another top-four finish without investing a penny on their squad in the last transfer window – but £170,000,000 v £0.00 may prove the difference at Wembley this weekend. Liverpool are a bigger club than Tottenham, with more history, more trophies and a bigger global appeal.

Now Klopp has a glorious opportunity to prove it – and reverse a rare stain on his record against one of the top six.