Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp instead of drawing into Alexander-Arnold’s comments preferred to pay respect to their counterpart. They have had many fierce battles on the pitch and for Premier League titles over the years. However, it is clear that the two managers share a mutual respect for what they have both achieved.

City manager Pep Guardiola told the media it had been a pleasure facing off against Jurgen Klopp. He told the media: “Always it was a pleasure – and Sunday will be too but we will try to win the game. The way his teams play football, always you learn. The way they play, the teams play. It will be nice because always it has been and accept the challenge.”

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was full of praise for Guardiola. He told the media that the City manager is the best manager in the world as he praised his rival. Klopp 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.”

It was a nice touch yesterday to see Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp pay each other respect before their teams face off on Sunday. The pair have raised the standards in the Premier League. Their rivalry has a special place in Premier League history given the levels they have both taken their teams to and how they’ve driven each other to such high levels of achievement.