EPL most competitive, Klopp warns Guardiola

Mohamed Salah (No. 11) scoring the winning goal in the 2-1 victory against Liverpool during the friendly in St Louis, Missouri on Monday.
Mohamed Salah (No. 11) scoring the winning goal in the 2-1 victory against Liverpool during the friendly in St Louis, Missouri on Monday. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

LONDON • Jurgen Klopp has cautioned Pep Guardiola that winning the English Premier League is the most difficult challenge in European football, even with the new Manchester City manager set to spend more than £100 million (S$177.5 million) in the close season.

The Liverpool manager said that Guardiola will be in for a shock despite leading both Barcelona and Bayern Munich to three consecutive league titles.

"The competition makes it really interesting," Klopp said. "Winning the title in England is the biggest challenge of them all.

"If you are three times in a row Spanish champions, three times in a row Bundesliga champions, then you think, 'Okay, let's try something else.' If you are looking for the biggest challenge, then you need to go to England.

"It's not easy in Germany. If you want to be in front of Bayern Munich, you have to win all the other games and then a minimum of one against Bayern. They don't lose.

"In this country, it's a very different kind of difficulty. Here you have a number of clubs who think they should be No. 1."

Klopp has spent more than £60 million on players in the hope of taking the title to Anfield.

But his team suffered their second pre-season defeat on Monday as they lost 1-2 to Roma in St Louis, Missouri in the United States.

They were beaten by Chelsea in California last week.

Goals from Edin Dzeko and Mohamed Salah either side of Sheyi Ojo's equaliser in St Louis caused Liverpool's defeat.

"It was obviously not our best game but games like this can happen," Klopp told the Liverpool website. "We weren't compact in the first half and left too many big spaces, so nearly every offensive action of Roma was a chance."

Liverpool play Barcelona at Wembley on Saturday.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 03, 2016, with the headline EPL most competitive, Klopp warns Guardiola. Subscribe