I'll be easier to replace than Guardiola, says Klopp

Replacing manager Pep Guardiola at Manchester City will be a near impossible job compared to getting a new coach at Liverpool at season's end, Juergen Klopp, manager of the latter, said ahead of Sunday's match against title rivals City.

Liverpool go into the game at Anfield with a one-point lead over City in the standings. The two managers meet for the last time in the Premier League after Klopp said in January that he would step down from his role at the end of the season.

"I really think it is the perfect moment for a new manager and not the wrong call because we didn't win everything, we left spaces," Klopp told reporters on Friday when asked if it would impossible to replace him or Guardiola.

"Go (in) at City after Pep Guardiola and you need to be champion ten years in a row to achieve the same."

The German manager said he had no regrets over losing the Premier League title to City by one point in the 2018-2019 and 2021-2022 seasons as it relieves pressure and creates an ideal chance for his successor to strive for more silverware.

"Maybe it was good for that reason that we didn't become champion with 97 points," Klopp said.

"In those years (losing to City) with one point behind everybody knows on one specific moment it could have been different. For me it doesn't minimise the joy of what we did at that particular time.

"The outside world obviously sees it completely differently – you win it or you don't win it."