Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insisted Manchester City are still the ‘biggest force’ in the Premier League as the Reds attempt to dethrone the champions.
Klopp’s Liverpool will host Premier League titleholders City in a blockbuster top-of-the-table clash at Anfield on Sunday – both teams level atop the standings following unbeaten starts to the season.
City enjoyed a record-breaking campaign last term as they won the trophy by 19 points and 25 points ahead of fourth-placed Liverpool, who loom as the biggest threat to Pep Guardiola’s bid for back-to-back crowns in 2018-19.
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Klopp, however, believes Guardiola’s City remain the team to beat in England ahead of their showdown on Merseyside.
‘They are so strong,’ said Klopp. ‘This team together with the club, the money they have and this manager is exceptional.
‘It is a good match, a good combination. It makes them the biggest force, at the moment, together with PSG in world football. We have to battle and fight with them for different things in the league and maybe in the Champions League at one point if it comes to that again. That is it.
‘They are really good. We have to prove that we are as good as we can be and we have shown that in a few moments. We face a very strong team again and it will be very difficult again, that is all. In this moment, there is no pressure. If this was match-day 30 we’d have to see who can deal with it.
‘I can say it again, I really think the most important thing for football – the most important job of football – is entertaining the people,’ Klopp continued.
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‘It’s only football, it’s nothing else. We don’t save lives, we don’t create anything, we are not good in surgeries, we are only good in football.
‘If we would not entertain the people, why would we play it then? It’s not always possible unfortunately and it’s always hard work, even if we’re entertaining people, it’s especially hard work. Pep’s teams are best in that and I can admit that easily because it’s so obvious.
‘But we are not bad in a few other things and that’s why we are not the most comfortable opponent for City in the past. But that means nothing for Sunday, we need to be at 100 per cent, if not 110 per cent, to deal with the quality of City.’
