Jurgen Klopp’s most telling fixture since his arrival in England will take place Saturday, with Liverpool travelling south to face out of form Chelsea.
Our opponents are languishing 15th in the Premier League and manager Jose Mourinho is under intense pressure as a result, despite leading the Blues to title glory last term.
And while our new manager made a quick joke about Mourinho’s two most hated types of people, he intimated his utmost respect for the three-time Premier League winning boss.
“I am full of respect for his work. I think if you are not a journalist or a referee he is a nice guy,” Klopp told today’s pre-match press conference, reported here by BBC Sport.
“I am not one of these so we have a good talk.”
“When I was in Germany, sometimes we exchanged short messages,” Klopp added.
“I like to meet people and he is a nice guy and he was really full of respect during the game.
“He is emotional, I am emotional but we are full of enough respect after the whistle that normal life starts again and you can talk normally about things that happen and that is what we did. Everything is okay with us, no problem.”
The pair have faced each other in the past, most notably when Klopp’s all-action Borussia Dortmund outfit trounced Mourinho’s Real Madrid in the 2013 Champions League semi-final.
Then, the Madrid superstars had no answer for Dortmund’s relentless pressing and running off the ball, and it’ll be that non-stop style that’ll give us the best chance to ruffle Chelsea feathers early on Saturday.
Thankfully we’ve Christian Benteke ready to start up top, while Roberto Firmino will similarly be chomping for a start after his impressive showing against Bournemouth midweek in the League Cup. The Blues are without Thibaut Courtois and Branislav Ivanovic, but star striker Diego Costa faces a late fitness test (via the Echo).