The Premier League resumes after the international break this weekend and there is little doubt the marquee match-up of the round is Manchester United’s visit to Anfield.
The battle will be won on the pitch, but the touch-line duel between managers Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho will be every bit as engrossing.
In that department, it looks like Liverpool very much have the edge.
Over five meetings to date, Liverpool’s German manager has come out on top three times with one draw and only one defeat.
The pair have crossed swords only once before in English football. Klopp recorded his first Premier League victory just under a year ago as his Liverpool side overran Mourinho’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in a convincing 3-1 win.
The other four meetings were all in the Champions League campaign of 2012-13 in which Klopp’s Dortmund ultimately lost the Final to Bayern Munich.
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Mourinho was managing Real Madrid at the time and, after being drawn together in the group stage, his side were eliminated by Dortmund in the semi-finals.
Dortmund won their home matches in the group stage and semi-final. The group stage match at the Bernabeu ended all-square, and Dortmund lost the return leg of the semi but progressed 4-3 on aggregate.
Mourinho’s Madrid held the upper hand in possession in all four of those Champions League games.
At heart Liverpool’s advantage going into Monday’s game is possession, and why they don’t need it.
According to Opta, the Premier League’s official statistics provider, Liverpool have held 60.8 per cent possession this season, second only to Manchester City.
Yet they beat Arsenal and Chelsea away with less than 50 per cent of the ball and lost the game in which they held the largest possession share, over 80 per cent, at Burnley.
The truth is Liverpool will take possession for sure, but they do not need it. And therein lies Mourinho’s problem.
The erstwhile ‘special one’ has often sneered at the modern trend of possession football and the type of play favoured by arch-nemeses Barcelona and Arsenal.
In his unveiling at Manchester United this summer he said this:
“I like the ball possession as a way to create a chance to be vertical, I don’t like it just to keep statistically possession of the ball.”
At Chelsea, Inter Milan and even Real Madrid, Mourinho has been a famously pragmatic coach, happy to play conservatively, and not seduced by the idea of playing attacking or attractive football.
In essence, Mourinho’s philosophy has been an answer to the en vogue possession doctrine that has made Barcelona so beloved around the world. But equally Klopp’s approach has been an answer to Mourinho’s answer.
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The issue heading into Monday’s match-up is that Liverpool can punish teams whether they dominate possession or not. Sit back and the Reds will pressure, goad and hound you into mistakes. Play pretty patterns like Arsenal and they will pick you off and play into the space behind.
The Anfield outfit lead the division in chances created. Their advantage lies in the efficacy of the high press in unbalancing teams and allowing chances to be constructed quickly.
Liverpool lead the division in shots with 135, eight ahead of Spurs in second with 127, are joint second in goals scored inside the box with 15 and are tied with Burnley for first place in goals outside the box with three.
Mourinho has not been short of a tactical masterstroke in his career. It looks like he will need another one Monday to keep Manchester United in the title race and redress the balance of that lop-sided rivalry against Klopp.