Jurgen Klopp has hailed Burnley’s success on par with Manchester City.
Liverpool will begin 2018 with a trip to Turf Moor, where Sean Dyche has inspired the Clarets to within three points of the Premier League’s fifth place.
An excellent season has already seen them pick up just six fewer points at the midway stage than they managed in the entirety of the previous campaign.
Burnley also managed to frustrate the Reds as part of an impressive away record which saw them hold Tottenham and Manchester United and beat Chelsea.
And Klopp echoed Huddersfield boss David Wagner’s claims that the Lancashire club’s exploits are on a similar level to City’s record-breaking run to the title.
He said: “Sean Dyche is fantastic, outstanding.
“I know how it is to swim with the big fishes in the league and obviously they swim quite well. It’s just a nice story.
“Each year creates a new story and this year it’s Burnley.
“I think my friend Dave (Wagner) said it compares with what Pep is doing at Manchester City and that’s an outstanding season.
“Burnley and Sean Dyche is doing the same with completely different under different circumstances. I really respect and appreciate that.
“They can win all the games in the season except for the games against us.”