Klopp: We top the league but City lead world
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finally going to be their year but only twice in the last decade has the team at the top of the table at Christmas not won the title – and on both occasions it was the Reds.
Mackay-Steven would love to see them break the cure and admits he’s keen to head back to Anfield to cheer his old club on.
He said: “I hope Liverpool win the league and I firmly believe they will with the way they’re playing.
“When I went there they had won the Champions League a few years earlier and had just been in another final so they were one of the top teams in Europe.
“But the Premier League was still missing and everyone was desperate to win it and believed they could with the way they’d performed in Europe.
“I was in the Academy in my first season but once I stepped up to the reserve side we trained at Melwood where the first team were based.
“I also went to every game at Anfield so you got a real flavour of it and in my final season they finished second, just four points behind Manchester United.
“I haven’t been back since I left but it’s something I’d like to do, especially with the new stand.
“The Kop is special and the scenes would be incredible if they won the league.” BY ED CASEY LIVERPOOL boss Jurgen Klopp insisted Manchester City remain the best team in the world ahead of their crunch Etihad clash tonight.
The Reds go in with a seven-point lead over their title rivals at the top of the Premier League.
But Klopp was keen to push aside the hype.
He said: “Playing City is a difficult one, one of the most difficult games you play in modern football. We felt that plenty of times. It’s a really strong football team with an outstanding manager.
“We must be prepared, as good as possible, we have to be brave, we have to be full of desire, angry, like in all the other games but with the knowledge the opponent is, for me, still the best team in the world. Only the points changed, not preparation for the game.”
Klopp and City gaffer Pep Guardiola have both talked up the strength of their opposition, with the Spaniard returning the compliment by hailing Pool as the world’s best.
Klopp said: “His words were ‘in the moment’.
“Yes, with the record we had in December we had a good moment and we have a very, very, very good football team.
“That’s why we have the amount of points, that’s why we had the results but a couple of weeks ago we were a point behind and talk was if we lose, then it’s four points, can you close that gap? It’s all only talk. It has nothing to do with the reality.
“A big part of football is talking about it before it happens but we are there to let it happen. We’re excited because it’s a very interesting game, we’re looking forward to it but apart from that it’s a normal situation.”
Liverpool go into the clash having won three of the last four meetings between the sides but their last league trip to the Etihad ended in a 5-0 defeat last September.
Guardiola has already labelled it a must-not-lose game for his team, stating the title race would be finished should City slip 10 points adrift.
Klopp expects that to fire up City and said: “If we would be 10 points behind, would the first thing I say be, ‘We’ll catch them’. Of course not, it’s difficult with the qualities all the teams have.”