Jurgen Klopp in awe of Arsene Wenger
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has expressed his admiration for "football maniac" Arsene Wenger ahead of the Reds' clash with Arsenal.
Wenger's Gunners visit Anfield on Wednesday night as the Barclays Premier League leaders at the start of a year which marks the 20th anniversary of the Frenchman's arrival in north London.
English football's longest-serving boss was already held in high esteem by the man who will line up in the opposite dugout, but Klopp's appreciation of Wenger's work has only grown since he joined him in the division back in October.
"My respect goes up day by day because it's really intensive to work in the Premier League, especially in a team with international matches (for their players) too," the Reds manager said.
"He had always my biggest respect but now it's a little bit bigger since I'm here. That's really a brilliant job he's done - 19-and-a-half years.
"He's a high-quality manager, one of the best in the world for sure. This long period, it's really rare that you can do this but he did. He's a football maniac, in the best (sense of the word).
"It was always a challenge to play against him and again a challenge that I'm looking forward to."
Klopp and Wenger have become well acquainted with each other in recent years, having met in the Champions League group stages in 2011, 2013 and 2014 when the former managed Borussia Dortmund.
The Arsenal boss claimed three wins to Klopp's two after the first meeting finished all square, but the German will hope his excellent record against sides flying high in the Premier League will stand Liverpool in good stead ahead of a week that concludes with Manchester United's visit.
As well as defeating Leicester and drawing at Tottenham, the Reds' dominant away wins over Manchester City and Chelsea have proved to Klopp that his players can produce in big games.
"After 10 minutes at Chelsea it was a very, very good away game and from the first second against City," he noted.
"The main information we should take out of these two matches is we have to be really good. If we are good, then it could fit for this game of course.
"But Arsenal, together with City, are the two best teams at this moment in the Premier League. To stay in a good position against Man City, they need all the points, they cannot (pick and choose) where they want to get it.
"They will show us that they have real ambitions this year. They're in a good moment.
"We can be, we're not that consistent in the performances in the last weeks but (the 1-0 win over) Stoke was a good sign of what my team is capable of."
Liverpool's injury worries have eased slightly ahead of the encounter and Kolo Toure and Mamadou Sakho are set to shake off problems to occupy the centre-back berths.
Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Jordon Ibe should also return but Klopp's attacking options are once again limited after Divock Origi suffered a fresh knee injury.
Opposite number Wenger believes Arsenal's current run of form means they go to Liverpool with the right belief to maintain their place at the top of the table.
The Gunners have won seven of their last eight matches in all competition, with a Boxing Day defeat at Southampton the only blemish on their recent good run.
Wenger made five changes for Saturday's FA Cup third-round victory over Sunderland with the likes of Mesut Ozil and Per Mertesacker rested completely for the 3-1 win.
Arsenal are expected to return to near full-strength for their trip to Anfield as they look to defend their two-point lead at the top of the table.
And Wenger, who remains hopeful a deal for Egypt international midfielder Mohamed Elneny will be completed by the end of the week, feels the current run holds his side in good stead heading into the game with Klopp's men.
"The momentum creates confidence and confidence is vital at that level," he said.
"In December and now in January we have been consistent and we go into a very important part of the season because we play many games and that consistency is a good basis to go into the next game with the right belief.
"The consistency of our results is very important. Therefore it was important to win on Saturday and not to break that belief.
"It was good for me to see some players that have played less and to be down 1-0 and respond in the way we did and have an outstanding second half. It was all a very positive basis in preparation for Liverpool."
While Wenger will call upon his key men at Liverpool, one player who will not feature is Chile forward Alexis Sanchez - who continues to recover from a hamstring complaint.
"We should have Ozil and Mathieu Flamini available," Wenger said of his squad.
"We will have to test David Ospina who is not available on Saturday. For Alexis the Liverpool game will come too soon for him but he has a chance to be available for Stoke and his development is going well."
Source: PAR
