Liverpool vs Manchester City. Jurgen Klopp vs Pep Guardiola. Mohamed Salah versus Erling Haaland. It doesn’t get much better in world football. Ironically, the Reds have to turn the tide against the Skyblues, otherwise there is nothing left to get in the Premier League. But how?
Jürgen Klopp had not lost his sense of humor before the duel with the ice-cold goal machine Erling Haaland. “Maybe we just have to distribute our goals better across the games,” said the team manager of troubled Liverpool FC when asked about a recipe for the Premier League’s top game in the evening (5:30 p.m. / Sky). After all, it’s against Manchester City and coach Pep Guardiola.
A couple of goals from the 9-0 win over Bournemouth or the recent 7-1 win over Glasgow Rangers could actually do Klopp against City. After all, on the other side is the towering Haaland, whom Klopp ennobled before the summit of the Premier League teams that have been dominating for years. The 22-year-old is “currently the best striker in the world,” said Klopp.
Haaland has already scored 15 goals in the league and already holds the record for most goals after ten matchdays – although only nine have been played. “Even when he was very young, you could see his potential. You could block him, stop him – he still scored. Physically he has set new standards, is also technically strong, always knows where the gaps are, is hardly ever offside . This package makes him so special,” said Klopp. He only saw a similar combination with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
But now Liverpool have to stop Haaland in order not to lose touch with the table. The Reds are currently only tenth with ten points – the worst start to the season in ten years. City (23 points) and leaders Arsenal (24) are miles away. There is still hope of a catch-up race similar to that of last season, but a win against City is needed for that.
At least Klopp knows how that works: at the end of July, Liverpool beat City 3-1 in a duel for the English Supercup. “They’re definitely the best team in the world. But we’ll try, even if it’s going to be difficult. It’s a home game,” said Klopp. The top game also draws its attraction from the eternal duel between Klopp and Pep: the two coaching icons have already fought 25 duels in Germany and England, with eleven wins Klopp is slightly ahead of Guardiola (9). The Spaniard is still “the best coach in the world,” Klopp said last season.
Guardiola promptly returned the compliment before the reunion. “On Sunday, the biggest task we have in England is waiting,” said the former Bayern coach and named Liverpool as their biggest rival in the title fight: “If there were only three games left, I would say that we wouldn’t get more. But anything can still happen like this.” Jürgen Klopp would have liked to hear that.
