Jurgen Klopp makes bold Pep Guardiola claim before Liverpool showdown with Man City

Klopp and Guardiola could be meeting for the final time when they face off at Anfield this weekend

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, right, and Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp meet on Sunday (Isaac Parkin/PA)

Jurgen Klopp has hailed Pep Guardiola as the outstanding manager of his lifetime and said he has “no idea” why he has a winning record against his Manchester City counterpart.

They will meet for potentially the last time on Sunday when Klopp, who has 12 victories and 11 defeats against the Catalan in a duel that dates back to their day at Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich respectively, takes charge of Liverpool against City.

But Klopp insists it is not a rivalry and said he is not frustrated that he would have won far more but for Guardiola, who has secured five Premier League titles to his one from their time together in England.

The Liverpool manager said: “I don’t feel it is a rivalry, I understand you call it that. We are both pretty competitive and we both want to win games and we both are blessed with having really good players in our teams but it is not a rivalry.”

Klopp has been consistent in his argument that Guardiola is the finest coach in the world but the 56-year-old went further in his praise.

“How could I judge managers from the past?” he said. “But in my lifetime he is the outstanding manager.”

Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola shake hands on the touchline (Getty Images)

Klopp has been impressed by Guardiola’s enduring hunger and impact on the game in general.

He added: “The way he influenced football: easy as that. Then winning the amount of trophies he won in his career and yet when you see him on the touchline he behaves like he has never won anything before. The desire is absolutely outstanding, I know that I do the job myself so I see excellence when I face it and Pep is definitely that. So many different things over the years, [his football was] always possession-based but if necessary he plays long balls.

“I cannot say where he is better than me but just see how his teams are playing. There might be areas where I am better than Pep. I don’t know.”

Klopp has twice finished as a runner-up in the Premier League behind Guardiola’s City but added: “I was never frustrated. I knew around about 3000 footballers were better than me and still loved the game and all the others were better than me. No, it never frustrated me. In this moment I have a positive record against Pep, I have no idea how that happened. I know I am good at what I do, I know I am not bad. But you ask me who is the best and he is the best.”

Liverpool are waiting to see if Ibrahima Konate will be fit to play on Sunday after he came off at half-time in Thursday’s 5-1 win over Sparta Prague.