Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has urged his players to break the Anfield curse in today’s Premier League match against Jurgen Klopp’s team.
Image shows Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp.
City have recorded only one win at Anfield in the past 35 years, and that was in 2003 when Kevin Keegan was manager at the Etihad stadium.
Guardiola, 45, says he can’t wait to take the battle to Klopp’s “cemetery” for the first time since he joined City on 1 February, 2016, and he expects his first attempt to bring the desired victory.
Liverpool are #2 in the Premier League table with 41 points while City trails them with just one point as #3.
League leaders Chelsea are six points away from Liverpool as they face Stoke (#13) with 21 points.
Klopp says the new year celebrations should be postponed until this unmissable match comes to an end.
Image shows the German tactician Jurgen Klopp.
“I know people are excited when they think about it,” the German coach said.
“There is nothing to do except prepare the party for afterwards while everyone watches the television. This is a game you have to watch.
“It is a good thing we are involved – it’s not City vs someone else, it’s Liverpool vs Man City. We are some kind of a challenger, we don’t care about being the favorites.”
Nonetheless, Guardiola admits he’s relieved to have Sergio Aguero back in the squad after his Argentina international footballer served a four-match ban.
Though City has been lucky without their best striker, they’re more at ease having him on the pitch alongside Nigeria’s Iheanacho and others.
Image: Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp
The former Barcelona coach said, according to a report from Daily Star: “We did quite well without him and we have made good performances – except against Leicester.
“But of course he’s important for us. Can you imagine all the teams in the Premier League without their best striker for all those games?
“It would be tough for them like it was tough for us. But we are only one point behind Liverpool.
“Now we finish the first half of the season. Hopefully in the second half Sergio can play all the games.”
Guardiola revealed that he took a time out to watch Liverpool thrash Stoke City 4-1, and added that he observed Klopp has gone back to the same tactics he used in Bundesliga – “the heavy metal”.
Image: Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp
“I can see why they call it that,” Guardiola said, referring to the Borussia Dortmund style of play which made Klopp a force to reckon with in international football.
He continued: “Our styles are not similar but I like the way they play a lot.
“Maybe Klopp is the best manager in the world at creating teams who attack the back four with so many players, from almost anywhere on the pitch.
“They have an intensity with the ball and without the ball, and it is not easy to do that. They attack wide sometimes with [Nathaniel] Clyne and [James] Milner but they especially like to attack from inside, through the middle.
“I don’t think there is another team in the world attacking in this way with so many players capable of launching moves in an instant.”
“I learned a lot in Germany the first time I played his team. I was new and it was ‘wow’, what a good lesson. We lost 4-2. Afterwards in the league I learned a bit more about how to control those situations but it was never easy. When Klopp speaks about his football being heavy metal, I understand completely. It is so aggressive. For the fans it is really good.
“Our styles are not similar but I like a lot the way they play, for the spectators, because in three or four seconds they are attacking,” Guardiola added.
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