Jurgen Klopp believes criticism of Manchester United has bordered on insulting and says they have been given every motivation to end Liverpool’s unblemished start.
Klopp has been delighted with Liverpool’s preparations for their biggest game of the season and he received another boost last night when Joel Matip, such an important part of his defence, signed a deal to keep him at Anfield until June 2024.
He was amazed, however, to see a debate this week that said a composite team, picked from the two sides, would include 11 Liverpool players. If Klopp was in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s position, the German maintains he would use such a slight on his squad to his own advantage.
Liverpool’s manager, who has goalkeeper Alisson Becker available for the first time since the opening day of the season, spoke at great length about United’s qualities and is adamant they are in a false position. Klopp is paying no attention to the table and is conscious of the threat his side will face.
‘I saw all these things and it looks like they want to help Manchester United,’ said Klopp. ‘All these articles look like they have been written by Man United supporters. So yes, that’s it. We’ll live with it. In the dressing room, that’s the one advantage they have at the moment — and playing at home.
‘It’s like we would have said it, “Here’s the combined team!” But we had nothing to do with it and that’s how it has been built up. It’s not the first time in my life that things like this have happened to me or my team. I said people are trying to create it as a banana skin.’
Klopp added: ‘We have to make sure we are the better side. That’s what you try to do. This week I had a little look at newspapers because I expected things like that but then I was still surprised it was that massive difference. We need to respect them to face the difficulties in the game.’