Jurgen Klopp has rubbished the idea Manchester United will be underdogs against Liverpool.
Sunday’s Anfield showdown between the Premier League’s top two sees the Red Devils holding the summit this late in a season for a first time since 2013.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side travel to Merseyside with the rare advantage of holding a three-point cushion over their arch-rivals and defending champions.
But Klopp does not view United as a lesser threat to the Reds despite not challenging for the title since Sir Alex Ferguson retired almost eight years ago.
He said: “I’m five years and two months in England and United was never an underdog. They cannot be.
“They have always had good teams; great players, really good managers, all that stuff was there. Now they are top of the table so they cannot be underdogs.
“But we play at home and we don’t see ourselves as an outsider or whatever just because they are now ahead of us. It was always an open game.
“Very often when we played United with different managers, we had to be dominant in the games especially when Jose [Mourinho] was there.
“Now with Ole we will see. Usually they change system against us.
“They played, I think, 10 times or so with four at the back against us [but against] PSG, Leipzig and so on they still played with five. Maybe they will change that.
“They’re all the things we have to think about – not who is the favourite and who is the outsider, who is the challenger and who’s the top. It’s just not important.
“It’s Liverpool against United, and that itself is a massive game. Wherever I would be in the world if there’s television, I would watch it. Definitely.”
Thiago Alcantara is in line to make his home debut for Liverpool, four months since joining from Bayern Munich, after featuring in their previous two games.
“The most important thing is he is fit, training, all good,” added Klopp.
“He played 90 and 45 minutes in the last two games so we will see if he can play, which position he will play, the options and all that stuff.
“But it’s really good to have him around now because he’s a really good guy and obviously an exceptional football player. It’s like a new signing.
“Now he’s here and let’s hope that it will stay like this for a long, long time.”