Jurgen Klopp labels Pep Guardiola 'best manger in world' as Liverpool and Man City dugout rivals get ready for battle

Jurgen Klopp has labelled Pep Guardiola the 'best manager in the world' as they get ready to go into battle once more.

The Liverpool and Manchester City dugout rivals have had many memorable face-offs over the last decade, starting in the Bundesliga and later in the fight at the top end of the English Premier League with a huge stakes game coming at Anfield on Sunday. Just one point stands between the two sides in the league standings ahead of the massive encounter.

As Klopp prepares to step down at the end of the season, only a possible FA Cup clash could add another instalment to their long-running contest for top honours. Despite the Reds holding a slim one-point lead going into the game, and the German having a slightly better record with 12 victories out of their 29 encounters compared to Guardiola's 11, he still hails the former Barcelona man as unparalleled in contemporary football.

He said: "Pep is the best manager in the world. I have a really good life being not even close to that. I don't know how could I judge managers from the past but in my lifetime he's the outstanding manager. I see excellence when I face it and Pep is definitely that.

"I was never frustrated, I knew round about 3,000 footballers who were better than me and I still loved the game; the others who were better than me, I didn't know them. I just got told I have a positive record against Pep... I have no clue how that happened to be honest.

"It made me a better manager trying to find solutions. I know I'm quite good at what I'm doing as well, I don't want to sound like, 'Oh my God, I'm just happy to be here', but you ask me about the best: he's the best. Bam."

He added: I don't feel it's a rivalry, but I understand why you call it that. There's no