Pep Guardiola hits back at Klopp over extended break jibe: ‘I thought Jurgen was not that type of manager’
Tensions appear to be mounting in both camps, ahead of this weekend’s showdown between Liverpool and Manchester City.
Reds host Blues
The marquee fixture of the Premier League weekend is of course set to take place at Anfield in 48 hours’ time.
The clash will see the two standout sides of English football over recent years gone by face off, in a meeting between the current champions, and the side leading the race to replace them.
Ahead of the crunch matchup on Merseyside, it is of course visitors Man City who have been in much the better form of the two sides of late, with the Sky Blues in the midst of a remarkable 13-game win streak.
Such stellar displays have seen Guardiola’s men carve out a 3-point lead atop the Premier League table, whilst also boasting a game in hand.
Manchester City’s Algerian midfielder Riyad Mahrez celebrates scoring his team’s fourth goal with teammates during the English Premier League football match between West Bromwich Albion and Manchester City at The Hawthorns stadium in West Bromwich, central England, on January 26, 2021. (Photo by Michael Regan / POOL / AFP)
For Liverpool, on the other hand, recent weeks have proven something of a mixed bag.
After seemingly getting things back on track with a pair of impressive away victories over Tottenham and West Ham respectively, the champions followed up with a shock 1-0 defeat at the hands of Brighton on Wednesday night.
This leaves the Reds trailing their upcoming opponents by a full 7 points, despite having played a game more than City.
‘Didn’t expect that’
And, as outlined above, ahead of Sunday’s showdown, the mounting pressure on Jurgen Klopp is seemingly beginning to take its toll.
Speaking ahead of his side’s meeting with City, the German tactician was keen to highlight the effects of fatigue on Liverpool’s recent form, before suggesting that the Citizens benefitted from Covid-based Premier League rescheduling to enjoy a ‘two-week break’ over the festive period:
‘We didn’t have a break, I think City had a two-week break for Covid reasons.’
‘It’s really tough, it’s a tough year, a tough season, I know for some teams it looks like lesser, but for us obviously for the reasons you know, it’s tough.’
Klopp’s claims, however, were in fact far from the truth of the situation.
City did enjoy an extra spell of rest after a Covid-19 outbreak at the club late last year saw a planned meeting with Everton postponed.
However, the break amounted to just one week, with Pep Guardiola having been forced to make do without six first-team players in the club’s ensuing outing versus Chelsea.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 09: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp (l) and Pep Guardiola react during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
As such, it came as little surprise when the Spaniard was quick to fire back when drawn on the comments of his opposite number earlier today, with Guardiola having revealed his ‘surprise’ with Klopp’s behaviour:
‘He [Klopp] made a mistake, it was two months off, or three months… no four months we have off. That’s why we’re in top four now… Jurgen has to see the calendar again.’
‘We had covid, we had one week and we played with 14 players at Stamford Bridge.’
‘I’m surprised, I thought Jurgen was not that type of manager, like other ones who usually do it, so I didn’t expect that comment.’
‘Maybe it was a misunderstanding. If he sees the calendar again, he will realise… it was not two weeks.’
👀 The mind games have begun ahead of Liverpool v Man City
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— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 5, 2021
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Premier League table
| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Manchester City FC | 21 | 26 | 47 |
| 2 | Manchester United FC | 22 | 19 | 44 |
| 3 | Leicester City FC | 22 | 14 | 42 |
| 4 | Liverpool FC | 22 | 18 | 40 |
| 5 | West Ham United FC | 22 | 6 | 38 |
| 6 | Chelsea FC | 22 | 13 | 36 |
| 7 | Everton FC | 20 | 6 | 36 |
| 8 | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 21 | 12 | 33 |
| 9 | Aston Villa FC | 20 | 11 | 32 |
| 10 | Arsenal FC | 22 | 5 | 31 |
| 11 | Leeds United | 21 | -2 | 29 |
| 12 | Southampton FC | 21 | -7 | 29 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace FC | 22 | -10 | 29 |
| 14 | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 22 | -8 | 26 |
| 15 | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 22 | -5 | 24 |
| 16 | Newcastle United FC | 22 | -14 | 22 |
| 17 | Burnley FC | 21 | -15 | 22 |
| 18 | Fulham FC | 21 | -14 | 14 |
| 19 | West Bromwich Albion | 22 | -34 | 12 |
| 20 | Sheffield United FC | 22 | -21 | 11 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 15 |
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 12 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 12 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 12 |
| Calvert-Lewin, Dominic | Everton FC | 12 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 11 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 11 |
| Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United FC | 10 |
| Zaha, Wilfried | Crystal Palace FC | 9 |
| Watkins, Ollie | Aston Villa FC | 9 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 8 |
| Lacazette, Alexandre | Arsenal FC | 8 |
| Soucek, Tomas | West Ham United FC | 8 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 7 |
| Ings, Danny | Southampton FC | 7 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 7 |
| Barnes, Harvey | Leicester City FC | 7 |
| Gundogan, Ilkay | Manchester City FC | 7 |
| Maupay, Neal | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 7 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 6 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bellerin, Hector | Arsenal FC | 0 | 7 |
| Egan, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 6 |
| Bissouma, Yves | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 1 | 6 |
| Maguire, Harry | Manchester United FC | 0 | 6 |
| Lundstram, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 5 |
| Gallagher, Conor | West Bromwich Albion | 0 | 6 |
| Kante, N`Golo | Chelsea FC | 0 | 6 |
| Milivojevic, Luka | Crystal Palace FC | 1 | 5 |
| Hayden, Isaac | Newcastle United FC | 0 | 6 |
| Ward-Prowse, James | Southampton FC | 0 | 5 |
| Klich, Mateusz | Leeds United | 0 | 5 |
| Reid, Bobby | Fulham FC | 0 | 5 |
| McGinn, John | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 5 |
| Westwood, Ashley | Burnley FC | 0 | 5 |
| Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 0 | 5 |
| Hojbjerg, Pierre | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 0 | 5 |
| Romeu, Oriol | Southampton FC | 0 | 5 |
| Dunk, Lewis | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 1 | 4 |
| Phillips, Kalvin | Leeds United | 0 | 5 |
| Cash, Matty | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 5 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 11 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 10 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 9 |
| De Bruyne, Kevin | Manchester City FC | 9 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 6 |
| Digne, Lucas | Everton FC | 6 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 5 |
| Maddison, James | Leicester City FC | 5 |
| Ward-Prowse, James | Southampton FC | 5 |
| Robertson, Andrew | Liverpool FC | 5 |
| Cresswell, Aaron | West Ham United FC | 5 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 4 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 4 |
| Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United FC | 4 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 4 |
| Firmino, Roberto | Liverpool FC | 4 |
| Pereira, Matheus | West Bromwich Albion | 4 |
| Harrison, Jack | Leeds United | 4 |
| Werner, Timo | Chelsea FC | 4 |
| Adams, Che | Southampton FC | 4 |
