Huddersfield manager David Wagner has leapt to the defence of Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp ahead of Saturday's clash between the two sides -- the first ever competitive meeting between the friends and former Borussia Dortmund colleagues.
Huddersfield travel to Anfield on Saturday off the back of a 2-1 win against Manchester United, with Liverpool having received plenty of criticism about their defence and sometimes blunt attack following Sunday's 4-1 defeat to Tottenham.
However, Wagner, who was best man at Klopp's wedding, has backed his friend to overcome the problems and called Liverpool's performances "cinema at its best" in an interview with German magazine Sport Bild.
"I can understand the criticism for the lack of points," Wagner said of Liverpool, who sit ninth in the Premier League. "But I don't understand the criticism for the performances. I don't have a clue what the folks expect. How they create chances, how they defend -- that's cinema at its best. You couldn't play the game much better.
"But in the end the marble needs to be put over the line. They can wait with that for one more match, and then get on a role."
When former Dortmund reserve team coach Wagner was asked whether media criticism was harsher in England than in Germany, he said: "Yes, it's more aggressive, it's clear. And most of all, there are more who have an opinion."
Klopp's Liverpool have only 13 points from nine games in the Premier League this season and have conceded more goals than they have scored.
But Wagner said: "Seriously, [Liverpool] play outstanding football with a lot of possession, pace and countless high-class chances. Only their shot conversion and the defending of set pieces is not outstanding. Still, the team is top class, and we'll have lot of fun with them [in the future]. We hope we can minimise that fun."
With Huddersfield already on 12 points, just one behind Liverpool, and heading to Anfield off the back of their first Premier League win since August, Wagner hopes his side can cause another surprise.
"We can also lose, for sure," he said. "But the positive experience my lads had against Manchester United at the weekend also leads to a growing belief that those things [winning] are possible."