“I enjoy preparing the game, it’s the biggest challenge you can face in football” – Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp makes honest admission about facing Manchester City 

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has dubbed Manchester City the best team in the world, admitting that facing them is the biggest challenge in football.

Liverpool will welcome Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City to Anfield for their highly-anticipated Premier League clash on Sunday (October 16). Having picked up a mere 10 points from eight league matches this season, the Reds are coming into Sunday’s fixture as the underdogs.

Second-placed City, on the other hand, have enjoyed an unbeaten start to their Premier League campaign, picking up 23 points from nine matches.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Klopp made an honest admission about their upcoming rivals. The German dubbed the Cityzens as the best team on the planet, confessing that he enjoyed preparing for the monumental challenge City brought with them. He said (via The Liverpool Echo):

"I enjoy preparing the game, it's the biggest challenge you can face in football. Football is about close down spaces, players, getting challenges right, against City it's always a challenge. Home game, Anfield, us v City, they are at moment best team in world."

He added:

“But we will give it a try knowing there are no guarantees. We will have help from a full Anfield. There are moments when you have to suffer and there are moments when you have to be dominant as well. Finding the right balance is the challenge."

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Mohamed Salah could be the difference-maker for Liverpool against Manchester City

Three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner Mohamed Salah has only scored two goals and claimed three assists for the Reds in eight Premier League games this season. Considering how well Erling Haaland has performed this season (15 goals in nine matches), Salah’s return hardly seems impressive.

Fortunately for Liverpool fans, Salah’s latest Champions League outing has proven that the Egyptian is still very much capable of scoring goals for fun. On Wednesday (October 12), substitute Salah scored a blistering six-minute-12-second hat-trick in the Reds' 7-1 win over Rangers. No player in the competition’s history has scored a quicker hattrick.

Expecting Salah to make a similar impact against City doesn’t seem practical, as they are unlikely to give him as much time on the ball as Rangers did. However, if he can play with the same confidence he did at Ibrox, he is likely to make a tangible impact against the defending champions, one way or the other.