Jurgen Klopp enjoying being the ‘hunter’ again as Liverpool gear up to face leaders Man United

Jurgen Klopp is enjoying being the chaser again as Manchester United face Liverpool as Premier League leaders for the first time since 2013.

Klopp, who made his name in Germany helping Borussia Dortmund overthrow Bayern Munich, has had to deal with his side largely being pace-setters over the last two years but in a new twist, it’s United three points ahead of their rivals after an unbeaten run of 11 matches.

‘Both are pressure because you either want a bigger lead or to be at the top. I find it easier to be the hunter, the chaser, the challenger if you like, maybe because I haven’t been in the other situation as often in my life.

‘My players obviously deal with both situations pretty well so far and that is fine. To see how we deal with it against United, you have to watch the game.’

Liverpool have been unusually inconsistent, putting seven past Crystal Palace but failing to beat Fulham, West Brom or Newcastle, and losing at Southampton when they had just one shot on target.

‘Of course we didn’t create enough but we can’t just get wild in front of their goal,’ admitted Klopp, who will have been pleased to see both Mo Salah and Sadio Mane net against an understrength Aston Villa in the FA Cup last time out.

‘It needs to be balanced but, again, my trust in these boys is massive. I know they want me to give them the right information.’

United are entering their eighth year without being champions. Liverpool ended their drought after 30 and Klopp believes it shows the degree of competition in the Premier League.

‘You don’t win because you are Man United or Liverpool but because you are the best side in that specific season,’ he said.

‘Manchester City have come up in a crazy way and won it quite a lot, Chelsea is still there, Leicester did it in 2016. So it’s not a surprise United couldn’t win it.

‘The potential of United is incredible of course so I don’t know about the next 30 years.’