Jurgen Klopp says his Liverpool team must be “absolutely ready” for their trip to Chelsea on Sunday, predicting an opponent made dangerous by the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino.
This will be the first time Klopp and Pochettino go head-to-head since the latter was manager of Tottenham Hotspur and the German is wary of what the Argentinian is putting in place in the short time since he moved to Stamford Bridge.
“Poch is a top manager, so they will show up,” Klopp said. “We have to be ready. We have to be absolutely ready. The football they played you can see it – Poch is there.
“We played against Mauricio often when he was at Tottenham, so you can see a lot of similarities from that and in the end we don’t know exactly.”
Mutual admiration
The admiration between the two managers is mutual.
“He is one of the best,” Pochettino said of Klopp. “We cannot say he is the best but he is one of the best, top five world managers.
“I have a great relationship with him, he was so nice when I left Tottenham, one of the best messages that I received.
“He’s doing a fantastic job with Liverpool. So happy, because he deserves his backing from the club.”
Impact of Nkunku’s injury
Pochettino’s task in his first Premier League match at Chelsea is not helped by a knee injury to Christopher Nkunku in pre-season that will have a big impact on his Blues squad.
“We feel very sorry about him,” Pochettino said of his forward signed in the summer. “He was doing well, he was [a] very important player for us.
“I think the quality is there, one of the best offensive players that can play in different positions that always is a big issue for us.
“Now it’s about not to think too much about the injuries and to be positive about when he can be again with us and recover as soon as possible in a good way.”
Pochettino swaps Stamford Bridge benches
But while Chelsea will be without Nkunku, their top scorer in pre-season, on Sunday, Pochettino is putting measures in place to give his side marginal gains.
Indeed, he has swapped the home and away benches at Stamford Bridge.
“I am going to be in the same dugout as when I was here with Southampton and Tottenham,” Pochettino has revealed. “It’s not going to be as strange a situation to be in the home dugout this time, it is going to feel like home, because I am going to be where I was when we played here before.
“We are moving because I think we will have better space and it is better to be on the right. That was the decision we took with the club on the day that we signed here, and the club agreed with me.
“I don’t know if it is a lucky dugout but I think it is the best, because it is bigger, you are in the middle and at home you control everything. That for me is important. It was always a thing I was thinking, when I came here with Southampton I thought it was strange they gave me the best position, it was like we were at home. These are small details that can make the difference and that’s so important for me.”
EPL