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Jurgen Klopp cast himself as the philosophical opposite of his rival for Saturday’s crunch match. They have been pitted against each other for a decade now, Klopp and Pep Guardiola, over 28 meetings from the German Super Cup to the Community Shield, via the FA, Carabao and German cups, the Bundesliga, the Premier League and the Champions League. They will be in neighbouring technical areas at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday when Manchester City host Liverpool, just as they are side by side again in the league table, for a game Klopp said he “would watch wherever I was on the planet”. But, once again, he is up against the man he deems the finest in his business. “I don't know how often I have said it but he's the best manager in the world,” he said. And while he will willingly admit that Guardiola is an influence, he compared himself to his great rival by drawing a distinction between them. “Defending is an important part of the game,” he said. “That is where my philosophy starts and his maybe ends.” Guardiola may disagree on that point, given the importance he attaches to pressing. As Klopp accepted: “We are not that close that we have spoken about it.” But Klopp’s blueprint against Guardiola involves defending; which, in turn, is the basis of his attacking. Gegenpressing, after all, is his best playmaker. “I love preparing for a game when the opponent wants the ball because it gives you an opportunity to create something,” he said. Devastating transitions have been at the heart of his blueprint to beat Guardiola. It is one that no one else has been able to copy; not with any consistency. Only one manager has faced Guardiola at least eight times and has won more often than he has lost, and that is the man who has taken him on most often. Klopp’s 12 victories have been spread across Germany and England but have had certain common denominators. Klopp’s teams don’t dominate the ball, and nor do they try to. But nor do they give it up altogether: beating Manchester City with 20 per cent possession, he rationalised, “is really rare and your counterattacks have to be spot on”. And if Liverpool’s sometimes are, they had 37 per cent of the ball when they won 1-0 at Anfield last season, 32 per cent in the 2-1 Champions League victory at the Etihad Stadium, 36 per cent in 2018’s 4-3 triumph at Anfield. Klopp’s sides have to defend well, but the scorelines indicate that the games have not been defensive. Perhaps it is simply testament to the attacking quality on the pitch but those 28 matches have produced 93 goals, an average of 3.32 each. While winning more – 12 to 11 – Klopp’s teams have conceded more goals, 48 to 45; as he knows from 5-0, 4-0, 4-1 and 4-1 results, when City are on top, they can seem unstoppable. “If we can make it really uncomfortable for them, we have a chance,” Klopp said. “If they feel comfortable in their game, no team has a chance.” Arguably, no one else has made life uncomfortable for Guardiola as often as Klopp. Some of the unconventional decisions that have led to accusations that the Catalan overthinks things have come against Liverpool: Aymeric Laporte has played at left-back at Anfield, Ilkay Gundogan as a quasi-right-winger and Jack Grealish as a false nine, none with any conspicuous success. Klopp nevertheless argued that it will be hard for Guardiola to spring a surprise. “We are all kind of predictable so it is not that we have a rabbit in our pocket and pull it out,” he said. “It is football, all the pitches are the same size and it is super interesting.” He knows City want the ball and where they want it. The challenge lies in concentration and organisation, in when to try to take it off them, how and whether Liverpool can spring a break. “Now it is about each space on the pitch you give them on the pitch that they want to explore,” he said. “They really want to play. They are the one team who have four at the back and one of them is the goalkeeper. They don’t only play around their own box, they move slightly higher as well. If we have a solution for that, they will step back and adapt.” Guardiola can seem the control freak of the pair, Klopp the man with a brand of chaos theory. Yet he presented himself as the organiser, the defensive strategist, and the City manager as the ranter and raver. “I am not sure how deep you have to go into our personality to see what we are like,” he said. “I am 56 and I still don't know who I am but Pep is for sure this type of guy who likes to get angry with his boys if they don't want the ball. I have that a little bit. For me, I love to organise other things to get advantage from that and that is deep in my personality.” And that personality, over the years, has equipped him for the seemingly impossible task of facing Guardiola. 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Arsenal host Manchester United this afternoon in the big match of the Premier League weekend. The Gunners are unbeaten after three matches and are aiming to jump up the table and keep the pressure on league leaders Manchester City. Mikel Arteta’s summer signings, Kai Havertz and Declan Rice, are still adapting to playing in this new team with the manager trying to implement a more offensive-minded approach without sacrificing defensive balance. So far, Arsenal have had mixed results and they may need to fall back onto last season’s gameplans when facing Manchester United today. For their part, United have had an indifferent start to the season. Two scratchy wins and a defeat to Spurs leave them just inside the top half of the table but they were busy on transfer deadline day with both incomings and outgoings. Erik ten Hag’s need to improve quickly, particularly in these bigger fixtures, so the added reinforcements of Sofyan Amrabat, Jonny Evans and Sergio Reguilon could prove key to their success this term. Follow all the action from the Emirates Stadium, get all the latest football odds and the latest offers and tips ahead of Arsenal against Man Utd right here: Read More Erik ten Hag tips Rasmus Hojlund to have ‘very good impact’ at Manchester United Mikel Arteta hails Eddie Nketiah’s fight to play for England after first call-up Late addition of an early target may have saved Man United’s transfer window

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Wayne Rooney made a shock U-turn and signed a new five-year deal at Manchester United on this day in 2010. It came as quite a shock when Rooney signed a new contract just two days after the United and England striker had announced his intention to quit Old Trafford when he released a statement which questioned the club’s ambition. The then 24-year-old let rip at the club’s leadership and said he would not be agreeing new terms following meetings with chief executive David Gill. “During those meetings in August I asked for assurances about the continued ability of the club to attract the top players in the world,” said Rooney. “I met with David Gill last week he did not give me any of the assurances I was seeking about the future squad. I then told him that I would not be signing a new contract.” Reports of Rooney’s dissatisfaction had been rumbling for a few days, with a “dumbfounded” manager Sir Alex Ferguson also confirming the forward’s desire to leave. Ferguson said: “We are as bemused as anyone can be, we can’t quite understand why he would want to leave. “I was dumbfounded. Only months before he was saying he was at the greatest club in the world.” Rumours started to spread about Rooney wanting to ditch United for rivals Manchester City, who were among many of the clubs keen to sign him, something which led to around 30 protesters gathering outside his Cheshire home. Given the strength of Rooney’s statement, nobody expected the Liverpudlian to put pen to paper on a new contract. Rooney’s U-turn came after conversations with Ferguson and the club’s owners who convinced the England international to commit his future to the club. “I’m delighted to sign another deal at United,” he said. “I’ve spoken to the manager and the owners and they’ve convinced me this is where I belong.” Ferguson added: “I think Wayne now understands what a great club Manchester United is.” Rooney, who had joined United from Everton in 2004, stayed at the club for a further seven years and went on to become the club’s record scorer with 253 goals. Read More Sevilla promise strong action against supporter who racially abused Vinicius Jr Steve Borthwick upbeat about England’s future after agonising World Cup defeat United’s first-half display did little to honour Sir Bobby Charlton – Erik ten Hag Diogo Dalot ensures Manchester United honour Sir Bobby Charlton with victory Rory McIlroy open to idea of investing in Man Utd after buying stake in Alpine Mikel Arteta pinpoints moment Arsenal made ‘phenomenal’ response at Chelsea