Liverpool and Manchester United are now truly shaped by Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho - the German has a fine record over his rival but cannot afford to fall 10 points away from him already

  • Liverpool host Manchester United at Anfield in the Premier League on Saturday
  • Jose Mourinho's United have made a fine start with 19 points from seven games
  • Jurgen Klopp's men have stuttered, taking 12 points from their seven matches

Finally, Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho will meet in England with both their teams cast firmly in their respective images.

The eighth fixture between two of the most flamboyant personalities to manage in the Premier League is the best chance yet to gauge the impact the two men have had at their clubs.

Since Mourinho was appointed Manchester United boss, he has taken 88 points in the Premier League, exactly the same as Liverpool and Klopp in that timeframe.

Klopp and Mourinho go head-to-head again in the Premier League on Saturday

Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho go head-to-head again in the Premier League on Saturday

Mourinho's side have 19 points from seven matches and have made an impressive start 

Mourinho's side have 19 points from seven matches and have made an impressive start 

Sadio Mane will be out for Liverpool for six weeks with a hamstring injury
Marouane Fellaini injured his knee on international duty with Belgium

Sadio Mane and Marouane Fellaini are both injured for Liverpool and Manchester United

Both sides head to Anfield for Saturday's clash with key men absent; Sadio Mane is unquestionably a bigger loss to Liverpool than Marouane Fellaini to United but the Belgium midfielder is emblematic of the Mourinho style and has made a magnificent start to 2017-18.


Tall, strong, uncompromising and awkward, Fellaini's introduction in last season's 1-1 draw at Old Trafford was cited by Klopp as the reason United managed to claim a point. His aerial ability would, judging by what we have seen so far, have caused Liverpool's defence all manner of problems at the weekend.

'Over the whole game, we were the better side,' Klopp said after last January's encounter. 'Then they came with the long ball, with Fellaini on the pitch and that's difficult.'

Yet while Fellaini's specific threat won't be there on Saturday, the two attacks of both sides outline how each manager likes their teams to play and in turn, it shows how varied each approach is.

With Mane hamstrung, Philippe Coutinho is likely to partner Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah in the front three. while for United, Romelu Lukaku leads the line.

Mourinho's best teams have had one physical, domineering striker as the spearhead. Lukaku fulfils a role the Portuguese has previously handed to the likes of Diego Costa and Didier Drogba with sensational effect.

Romelu Lukaku's attributes are close to Didier Drogba, who thrived under Mourinho at Chelsea
Drogba was outstanding at Chelsea under Mourinho's guidance

Romelu Lukaku's attributes are close to Didier Drogba, who thrived under Mourinho at Chelsea

Philippe Coutinho is likely to start in attack for Liverpool against United with Mane out

Philippe Coutinho is likely to start in attack for Liverpool against United with Mane out

JURGEN KLOPP V JOSE MOURINHO: HEAD-TO-HEAD 
Date Competition Score
24/10/2012 Champions League Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Real Madrid
06/11/2012 Champions League Real Madrid 2-2 Borussia Dortmund
24/04/2013 Champions League Borussia Dortmund 4-1 Real
30/04/2013 Champions League Real Madrid 2-0 Borussia Dortmund
31/10/2015 Premier League Chelsea 1-3 Liverpool
17/10/2016 Premier League Liverpol 0-0 Manchester United
15/01/2017 Premier League Manchester United 1-1 Liverpol
KLOPP WINS: 3 MOURINHO WINS: 1 DRAWS: 3

Klopp, on the other hand, does not use a focal point of his attack. Roberto Firmino is as close as Liverpool get but he plays through the middle for his positional play and movement as much as his goalscoring threat. Firmino is a fine forward but it would be a remarkable achievement if he is within 10 goals of his fellow No 9 Lukaku at the end of the season.

If Coutinho advances, Liverpool's midfield will see Georgino Wijnaldum return to the starting line-up alongside Jordan Henderson and Emre Can. 

Mourinho has no option but to partner Nemanja Matic with Ander Herrera due to Fellaini and Paul Pogba's injuries. The three attacking midfielders ahead of them are likely to be Marcus Rashford, Juan Mata and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

The £40m summer arrival of Matic at United was crucial to Mourinho's plan at United. If Lukaku reprises the Drogba role of his superb first Chelsea side, then Matic the enforcer continues with the job he did so impressively for the Blues team that won the league in Mourinho's second spell at Stamford Bridge.

The spine of United's Mourinho side continues with Eric Bailly in defence - his first signing at the club - and David de Gea between the sticks.

Klopp considered Virgil van Dijk so important that he refused to sign another defender

Klopp considered Virgil van Dijk so important that he refused to sign another defender

Mourinho raided former club Chelsea to sign midfielder Nemanja Matic for £40million

Mourinho raided former club Chelsea to sign midfielder Nemanja Matic for £40million

Matic has reproduced the displays that helped Chelsea win the league under Mourinho

Matic has reproduced the displays that helped Chelsea win the league under Mourinho

KLOPP V MOURINHO: SPENDING 

 LIVERPOOL

Marko Grujic - Red Star Belgrade: £5.1m

Joel Matip - Schalke: Free

Loris Karius - Mainz: £4.7m

Sadio Mane - Southampton: £34m

Ragnar Klavan - Augsburg: £4.7m

Alex Manninger - Augsburg: Free

Georginio Wijnaldum - Newcastle: £25m

Dominic Solanke - Chelsea: TBD

Mohamed Salah - Roma: £35m

Andrew Robertson - Hull: £8m

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - Arsenal: £35m

TOTAL SPEND: 148.9m 

 MANCHESTER UNITED

Eric Bailly - Villarreal: £30m

Paul Pogba - Juventus: £89m

Henrikh Mkhitaryan - Borussia Dortmund: £26m

Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Paris Saint-Germain: Free

Romelu Lukaku - Everton: £90m

Nemanja Matic - Chelsea: £40m

Victor Lindelof - Benfica: £30.7m

 TOTAL SPEND: £305.7m

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Mourinho has spent nearly twice as much as Klopp since arriving at United, something which signals not just the commercial power of the Old Trafford club but also Klopp's single-mindedness in previous windows, as well as his desire to improve the players he already has on the training ground.

The pursuit of Virgil van Dijk was fruitless and seemed destined to be for the majority of the summer window but the German refused to turn his attention to any other centre-back. For all Van Dijk's many attributes, hindsight already suggests something else would have been better than nothing else for Klopp and Liverpool's defence.

The same applies with Naby Keita, another primary Liverpool target last summer who they failed to land before striking a deal for the Guinea midfielder to join next summer for £60m from Red Bull Leipzig. 

Klopp and Mourinho may have differing approaches to how football should be played but know exactly the profile of player they want to fit their system.

Things seldom pass without incident on the pitch when these two sides meet and tensions spread to the technical area in the last meeting between these two in Manchester.

Klopp was furious when he thought Mourinho suggested Firmino should have been sent off for a tangle with Ander Herrera. They made their peace but have clashed prior that incident.

When Klopp's Borussia Dortmund played Mourinho's Real Madrid in the Champions League in 2013, there were signs of friction in the days before the second leg. Dortmund had won the first match 4-1, a match where Mourinho was seen making a glasses gesture with his hands in Klopp's direction.

Klopp responded to Mourinho suggesting he was unhappy with the amount the German had spoken about Madrid by saying: 'Mourinho says I speak too much? That's what one of my teachers used to tell me. I don't care.'

Madrid went onto win 2-0 but lost the semi-final 4-3 on aggregate. 

Mourinho made a glasses gesture when Real Madrid played Borussia Dortmund in 2013

Mourinho made a glasses gesture when Real Madrid played Borussia Dortmund in 2013

Dortmund beat Madrid in the Champions League knock-out stages in 2012 and 2013

Dortmund beat Madrid in the Champions League knock-out stages in 2012 and 2013

Klopp's only win over Mourinho in England came when Liverpool beat Chelsea 3-1 in 2015

Klopp's only win over Mourinho in England came when Liverpool beat Chelsea 3-1 in 2015

That pyrrhic victory is Mourinho's only win against Klopp in seven encounters. Dortmund got the better of Madrid in the Champions League the season prior, in 2012, while Klopp beat Mourinho's Chelsea 3-1 less than a month into the Liverpool job in October 2015.

But it's Mourinho who heads into this match with all the momentum. United have made a fabulous start to the season with 19 points from seven games while Liverpool have stuttered to 12 points from seven.

Klopp is under pressure to rejuvenate his team. Defeat would leave Liverpool 10 points behind United, a damning indictment of the work he has done compared to their fiercest rivals since he returned them to the Champions League on the final day of last season.