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Jürgen Klopp insists that Sunday’s clash with Manchester City will not be a deciding factor in the final Premier League standings, but he knows Liverpool must “absolutely play our best” to get anything out of the game.
The champions from each of the past two seasons fight for the first time in 2020-21 this weekend, with the Reds set to travel to Etihad Stadium as the first to set the pace for the division.
Klopp rejected any idea that the match has long-term importance on who lifts the title and also dismissed the theory that the race is solely between these two teams.
For now, in fact, his focus is entirely on the challenge of facing Pep Guardiola’s side and, after a 5-0 Champions League win midweek, ensuring Liverpool return to produce their best performance. .
“It is a very, very difficult game, hopefully for both teams, because both will perform at a high level. That’s it, ”Klopp said at his pre-match press conference.
“So early in the season and so many things are different this year. Nothing compares to last year. Nothing compares to the previous year.
“So everything is different and we just have to make sure we get through very intense periods, line up the fittest players and play the best football we can. In this case it is against Man City, which is obviously one of the most difficult games to play in the world.
“That’s it, more or less. I enjoy these kinds of games, I enjoy preparing for games, but it doesn’t make it any easier, it’s a really difficult task. “
Liverpool and City held the top two positions in the Premier League for the past two seasons, and Klopp’s men improved from second to first last season.
But when asked if they are ‘the main title challengers’ of the current campaign, he replied: “I never saw it like this. I don’t know where that comes from.
“For me, each season, surprisingly, starts from scratch. And we all have the same opportunity and it’s about how you go through the tough parts of the season, how you can find out together as a team, as a group, how lucky you are with injuries and all these kinds of things.
“For me, this two-horse racing thing was never a phrase that I not only didn’t use, I didn’t even think about because I’m only interested in one horse and that’s us.
“Obviously everyone else can do what they want and what they are capable of. We then face them twice in the Premier League a year.
“Chelsea and Tottenham really good; Really good arsenal; Really good Leicester; Everton, sadly, very good. There are many teams. Maybe I forgot someone … and Man United, people always write off pretty early and then in the end they will be there too.
“It’s always the same. We all fight for places in the Champions League and when you’re close enough to that, you can be champion at the end of the season. It was always the same and it will always be the same.
“It’s so early in the season, I don’t know who will be the best horse at the end of this season.”
Klopp and Guardiola each claimed a win in last season’s Premier League matchups, with Liverpool winning 3-1 at Anfield and losing 4-0 in the reverse match just after they clinched the title.
The Reds boss was also asked about the “right approach” to face City this weekend.
“Of course, it’s nothing like a title decider. I don’t know what it is, it’s a football match, “he added.
“I can’t see matchday eight anymore, I don’t want to know because no one can know what will be on matchday 38. There are so many games to come, whatever happens on Sunday will not decide on the league or whatever. Too many things can happen, especially this year.
“We all know you have to be lucky with injuries, you have to find a way every three days to beat the next opponent, which is already incredibly important, but with the last game on your legs, it is even more difficult.
“I’m not talking about this specific game now because we and City have four days between games, which feels like having a summer break and a preseason before a game. That’s good, so there are no excuses, other than City they are really good.
“And we have to play the best we can to have a chance, but really that was always enough for us to know.”
