Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta will go head-to-head for the third and fourth times in the next week, as Arsenal make the trip to Liverpool on Monday and on Thursday.
The pair have battled it out twice before as coaches, and our side has been victorious on both occasions, including a 2-1 win at the Emirates in July, before winning the Community Shield at Wembley in the Community Shield last month.
This will be the Spaniard’s first time of bringing his side to Anfield as manager however, and Klopp appears to be downplaying his side’s credentials, claiming his side ‘have a chance’.
‘We have played them twice now and in the Community Shield it was an open game and we were unlucky,’ Klopp told LFCTV in his pre-match conference.
‘I think in the league game we helped them slightly as we gave them two goals and we presented the goals on a plate, we made presents.
‘I think it was one of the few games where we, in moments, dropped concentration, it was late last season and Arsenal were waiting for these things.
‘In that game we were really good apart from two or three moments. That night we could have won but we didn’t and we accept that.
‘I can say a lot of positive things about Arsenal but I think we still have a chance on Monday night.’
The German goes onto credit his managerial counterpart’s effect on his side in such a short space in time, describing him as an ‘exceptional football manager’.
‘Mikel Arteta showed in a pretty short period of time he seems to be an exceptional football manager because the team he sets up now, the structure of the team, is absolutely exceptional,’ he added.
‘You can see the balance between defence and offence is really good. He did an impressive job and changed the whole mood in the club.
‘I don’t know exactly what the mood was before he arrived but I don’t think a lot of people thought before the end of the season he would win a competition, and he did that by winning the FA Cup.
‘It is a tough opponent, 100 percent. It is their defensive structure, they defend properly. All the players are involved in their defending.
‘They probably defend in a 5-4-1 and when you have quality players in the team, for the other team it is a pretty tricky situation, then with the speed they have for the counter-attack it can cause trouble.’
Nobody could have predicted just how well the new manager could have the team playing after such a short time in charge, even following the impact that could be seen after only a couple of training sessions, and Liverpool have so far been unable to stop us from achieving wins over their side.
A trip to Anfield would be daunting for any team in the division, but with the German weary of our own side, is a huge telling factor in just how far we have come.
While a draw would be a good result for any side away to Liverpool, our team could well be aiming higher, and Klopp appears to be worried that such a result could well be on the cards.
Am I alone in thinking the German sounds worried about his side’s chances on Monday?
Patrick
