LIVERPOOL -- Jurgen Klopp has said he believes Manchester City are the "most difficult" team to play in the Premier League and he has "never doubted" Pep Guardiola.
As he prepares his Liverpool side for Sunday's trip to the Etihad Stadium, Klopp said he was under no illusions about task that awaits them despite third-placed City going out of the Champions League in midweek.
Liverpool edged City 1-0, courtesy of Georginio Wijnaldum's header, in a tight affair at Anfield on New Year's Eve.
"For it's the most difficult team to play, City," Klopp told a news conference on Friday afternoon. "I know the image in the country at this moment is a little bit different, but it's real football and it's difficult to defend them. A lot teams felt it already.
"But when you can win the ball there are few spaces which maybe you can use. We know what we have to do there.
"We will try everything to do the right things. It could be a fantastic game to watch -- good news."
With City 10 points adrift of leaders Chelsea in the title race, Klopp said Guardiola needed time to adjust to the challenges English football poses.
He faced the former Barcelona coach's Bayern Munich team eight times during his time in charge of Borussia Dortmund, winning three of those games.
"The squad and Pep Guardiola at Barcelona was the perfect model for a win-win situation -- all these ideas and these players who can, obviously, fulfil all the plans you have. It was an outstanding combination," Klopp added.
"People who know more about Bayern Munich would say that's another really good generation that they had -- good players at the best age and all that stuff.
"I am not in doubt about his quality. Maybe a few other people are, but I'm not. I respect him really a lot and I can say it's quite difficult to play his teams."
Klopp said the difference between managing in the Premier League and elsewhere was that "it is the most difficult league in the world because a lot of teams have a lot of money and a lot of teams have lots of good players."
He added: "It's really difficult to become champion in England -- 100 percent.
"Then I would say the other thing, more than in other countries, is that the result is everything. Nobody cares how you get a result -- in other countries it's different.
"With a few styles of play you would play with the stadium empty in other countries. But here it's different -- do it and afterwards if you defend with 10 players in the box and block 20 shots then I hear: 'Perfect defending.'
"It's allowed, he has to adapt to it, we need to adapt to it and sometimes we need to do it in different games."
