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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola played down his rivalry with and record against Jurgen Klopp in his pre-Liverpool press conference (via the Manchester Evening News, 13:55) and also hinted that City had a clear game plan for the clash at Anfield on Sunday.
What did he say?
“He (Klopp) has all the qualities that everybody knows about Liverpool. At the end, it’s the teams and the clubs that win the game. I don’t play against the manager, we play against Liverpool. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, sometimes we win competitions, sometimes we lose competitions.
“He is an excellent manager, I have a lot of respect for the way he plays, his proactive teams.”
What did he really mean?
The fact that Guardiola referenced Klopp’s team as being proactive is rather telling. Liverpool haven’t actually started that quickly in any of their games so far this season but the Spaniard is clearly expecting the Reds to react to their defeat at Napoli.
This may have been a hint that Guardiola will send his team out to control possession at Anfield and potentially slow the game down where possible. With Bernardo Silva and David Silva set to start, don’t be surprised to see City look to quieten the home crowd early with plenty of the ball.
City’s to lose
Yes Guardiola was praising Jurgen Klopp here, but he also let slip that he felt the title was City’s to lose again this season. Admittedly, as champions and the best team in the league so far this year it probably is, but any complacency could be the biggest chance for Liverpool to snatch a point or maybe more this weekend.
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