Jurgen Klopp praises Arsene Wenger ahead of Liverpool clash tonight
Football
By
Mirror
| Jan 13, 2016
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says his admiration for Arsene Wenger has increased since moving to England to take charge of Liverpool.
Klopp and Wenger faced off six times during the German's time as Borussia Dortmund manager, with Dortmund and Arsenal drawn in the same Champions League group in 2011, 2012 and 2014.
The pair will renew rivalries at Anfield on Wednesday night when eighth-placed Liverpool welcome Premier League leaders Arsenal to Anfield.
And the 48-year-old Reds boss says the intensity of English football has only led to his respect for Wenger rising.
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"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," Klopp 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."
Arsenal can maintain their position at the top of the table with a win on Merseyside and Wenger highlighted the importance of extending their winning run to four matches.
"The momentum creates confidence and confidence is vital at that level," said Wenger.
"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 (against Sunderland in the FA Cup) 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."