Jürgen Klopp expects Manchester City to stay ‘calm as ice’ in title showdown
Jürgen Klopp expects Manchester City to remain “calm as ice” and immune to the pressure of Liverpool’s re-emergence in the title race when the Premier League rivals meet on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola’s champions have seen a 14-point lead over Liverpool in January reduced to one before a potentially decisive contest at the Etihad Stadium, with Klopp’s team winning 10 consecutive Premier League matches and a club record eight successive away games in all competitions.
But the Liverpool manager, who has a full squad available for his side’s 50th game of the season, does not believe “the best team in the world” will be unnerved by the growing threat to their defence of the title.
Klopp said: “I know it was 14 points but we had two games in hand, one was Leicester and the other Arsenal. Would I [feel pressure if the roles were reversed]? I don’t know. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been 14 ahead and then all of a sudden only one.
“I wouldn’t imagine they will feel more under pressure. It’s more like – focus on yourself knowing about the situation, looking at the form you are in and that is all OK. It’s not like I think: ‘Ah, they’re under more pressure than us.’ They play at home, they are calm as ice in most of the games they play and we have to be as well.
“It’s an important game, a very important game, but it’s how we realised in the beginning: there is a season after this game and these games are as important as the others.
“Our programme is insane. We play City, Benfica, City, United and Everton. They will all hope if we win one of the City games that we celebrate for three or four days but we will not. For us it is very exciting, very interesting and I’m really looking forward to it but it is business as usual as well. It’s just a big game, which we had now since we started our chase properly. All the games were finals and this is no different.”
One point separates Liverpool and City not only this season but cumulatively over the past four league campaigns. Klopp’s team have collected 337 points from 144 games while Guardiola’s have won 338 in 144 matches as the two clubs have dominated the Premier League.
The Liverpool manager reflected: “I’m surprised about the numbers to be honest. It’s massive. They wouldn’t have the points they have if we weren’t there and it’s the same the other way around. We obviously pushed each other properly, that’s the truth. If somebody would have asked me four years ago: ‘Do you think that’s possible and are you that close?’ I would have said: ‘Not really.’ I know how people see us and them.
“Man City is considered the best football team in the world and they got one point more than us – what does that say? I think as well they are the best football team in the world but they have only one point more than us in this time.
“So obviously we did something right. I’m happy about that but it would be better if we had 20 points more in that period, then we would have one more title or won more silverware. But it’s all fine how it is. That’s the basis we created, let’s go from there.”
Klopp admitted his rivalry with Guardiola and City is more equal than during his time challenging Bayern Munich’s dominance in Germany with Borussia Dortmund. He added: “The main difference between Dortmund/ Bayern and Liverpool/City is that at Dortmund we lost important players every year, Bayern never. That’s the difference in the situation, clearly. That’s why we could build here. We are much more equal at least than we were with Bayern because we could develop and build on what we did before. I don’t care if we are equal but we are much closer than we were with Dortmund, that’s for sure.”
Meanwhile, Mohamed Salah has described his contract talks with Liverpool as a “sensitive situation” but insisted they are not a distraction.
Salah has 16 months remaining on his current deal and has long been talking to the club he joined from Roma in 2017 about an extension. The hold up is believed to centre on the Egyptian’s £400,000-a-week wage demands, which would make him the highest earner at Anfield by some distance.
“There are many things that people don’t know about it – I can’t be selfish and talk about my situation [because] we are in the most important situation that is coming for the team,” Salah told Sky Sports. “I’ve said many times what I want but I can’t really go deep into the contract now because it is a sensitive situation. I am just focused on the team. That is the most important thing for me, [being] focused to win trophies and I’m just giving everything for the club.”