Chelsea’s new manager Antonio Conte has been heaping the praise on Jurgen Klopp in his pre-match interview, calling our German boss “one of the best managers in the world”.
His comments come hot on the back of Klopp’s kind words yesterday when he said the Italian was the “Pep Guardiola of Juventus” (SkySports).
“Liverpool is a really good team. They play with high intensity, they bring many players in offensive situations,” he said.
“[Klopp] is a good manager, one of the best in the world. He is showing also at Liverpool a great capacity to be a great manager.” (Echo).
It’s all a far cry from the bitterness we saw between the two dugouts in the mid- to late- 2000s, as Rafa Benitez clashed with Jose Mourinho and a litany of his successors.
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Whether or not it will still be all smiles between the two at 10pm tomorrow remains to be seen – much of it probably depends on whether or not Diego Costa decides to stamp on anybody!
Kick-off at Stamford Bridge is at 8pm BST, thus marking our first Friday night game since they became a regular “thing” this season.
How do you see the game panning out? Let us know in the comments…