Klopp praises Pep but aims to spoil his day
Jurgen Klopp wants to beat the man he says is the best manager in the world and his Manchester City side containing one of the best players in the world. Klopp is quick to lavish today’s opposite number, Pep Guardiola, as the standard bearer for all of today’s managers. That is despite the German’s impressive record against him in which he has claimed seven wins and two draws in the 14 meetings between their respective teams. That includes three victories out of four last season, including both home and away in the Champions League quarter-final. But while the Liverpool manager may have the upper hand in the individual matches, Guardiola is the one with most of the silverware. The Reds finished 25 points behind Champions City last season, but no one expects the gap to be as big this time around. They are currently neck-and-neck after seven matches, with City’s superior goal difference giving them a narrow advantage. Klopp knows City are the team to beat again for the title, so it’s up to Liverpool to make a statement of their own. But he wants a fair fight, and he would welcome the speedy return from injury of City’s Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian has been out with a knee injury since the opening game of the season but he is in contention for a surprise return. “Pep is the best manager in the world, there is no doubt about that,” he says. “No doubt about that at all. “People say he has always had better teams than I had, but I would not even compare myself with him. “I watch his teams playing and I know that is really exceptional. I see what he did in different teams. “Yes, he had better and more experienced teams like Bayern Munich and Barcelona but we don’t need to talk about that. “What Pep has been doing since he started his career as a manager, I never heard of something similar. “People in Liverpool would say differently about Bill Shankly or Bob Paisley but it is hard to compare eras as times are different. “But still doing the right things consistently is a mark of real quality. “People ask me what my secret is against Pep Guardiola, but there is no secret. City have a good squad and very good players. “But if my players don’t fulfil the plan we have, there would be no chance. “I absolutely hope Kevin De Bruyne plays, 100%. I really like him as a player. “When I first heard about his injury, I didn’t think it could be that quick. “We want to beat City – that is no secret – but you want to beat the best City and Kevin De Bruyne is part of the best City team. “Kevin has the talent, skills, attitude and the decision-making. He uses the right skills at the moment. That is the best combination and David Silva is not too bad at that either. “Kevin is still at an age where he can improve a lot. He is 27, so there is a lot more to come. And he is an outstanding, nice fellow as well.” This week marks the third anniversary of Klopp taking charge at Anfield and there have been big strides forward in that time. But there is no silverware as yet, and the German recognises it will be no easy task to claim the title they want above all, the Premier League, off City. “They don’t make life easy for us, and they will not stop improving,” he admits. “It doesn’t look as if any player could or would want to leave City. “They always have an answer and that makes them quite a tough opponent. “I grew up in a time when Boris Becker and Michael Stich were the best tennis players in Germany, and in the world. “Stich was outstanding, maybe better than Becker, but he was not Boris Becker. “Now we are there and we cannot wait until City are not there anymore. We want to fight them and have battles with them.”