Jose meeting is just business for Jurgen
JURGEN KLOPP will aim to get the better of Jose Mourinho for a third successive time tomorrow night.
But he doesn’t want Liverpool against Manchester United to turn into a personality clash between the two men.
Thankfully, there are 196 previous meetings over 122 years between the two most-successful clubs in English football, and the history and rivalry of these two cities to provide enough excitement ahead of the clash at Anfield.
For the record, Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund squeezed out Jose’s Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2013, and then when he came to England 12 months ago, a 3-1 victory at Stamford Bridge pushed Mourinho closer to the exit door at Chelsea.
The Portuguese wasn’t too impressed with Klopp’s touchline antics that day. But the German is happy to laugh off those accusations.
“This is not Mourinho against Klopp,” says the Liverpool boss. “That would make the game much easier if it was.
“This is Liverpool against United. Two good sides and we will try to get the points.
“It is always a big challenge against one of his teams and that’s how it is this time. He is a very successful and experienced colleague and he always has good teams behind him.
“There were never incidents between Jose and myself. Everything has been good until now.
“But I have to accept that for a long time in my life, not everybody is 100% happy with my performance on the sidelines.
“I think I’m not as intense as I used to be when I was younger. Sometimes it happens. But actually now at Anfield there is much, much more space for all of us.
“I’m one year older! That’s what age can do in a positive way. We will see.”
Liverpool have made a flying start to the season and heading into the weekend’s fixtures, no team has scored more goals in the Premier League.
By contrast, Mourinho’s United have been a little underwhelming as the new manager tries to find his best team and right system.
However, having lost at Anfield to Louis van Gaal’s Reds against the odds in the league last season, Klopp is ignoring the form book.
“At the moment everybody has the feeling that we are in a good way and United are not in a good way,” he assesses.
“But there are only three points between us in the league. That is absolutely nothing.
“We only think about their quality. If you don’t concentrate for one second, then you lose the game in that second.
“Nobody knows how it ends but both are full of expectation and ambition. I love it. If I wasn’t part of it, I would watch it. Now I’m part of it, that’s even better.”