Arne Slot admits he 'stole' Pep Guardiola idea as Liverpool boss sends Man City message

Arne Slot, the Liverpool boss, is eagerly in December. The Premier League leaders are set to host the reigning champions on December 1, just days after a home game against Champions League holders Real Madrid.

This clash with team will kickstart a fresh rivalry in English football, following numerous unforgettable encounters with former Reds manager during his almost nine-year tenure in Merseyside.

revealed that he has previously used clips of Guardiola's City teams for player training and is excited about the challenge of matching wits with the Catalan when the current top two teams meet in just over a month.

"It is true I showed my players in recent years clips of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City teams," Slot confessed to .

"But I also showed them, many times, clips of Jurgen Klopp's team at Liverpool and it was mostly to do with how intense both teams pressed, the work rate these top professionals have and then compared with how we did it at that moment.

"In football I think we are all a bit similar, you try to steal ideas from different managers and at this moment in time, so many good managers are out there. I even faced many of them in the Premier League and Champions League as well. So Pep is of course not only because he is a great manager, he is a difficult test to face but also he is leading a team with a lot of quality."

Slot expressed his anticipation for the upcoming match, noting the quality within his squad: "The good thing for us is that we also have a lot of quality, so I am looking forward to that game. But there are also a lot of games to be played in the meantime and this will come after the Real Madrid game, which is also a massive one."

Reflecting on the moment , Slot revealed he missed it live due to commitments with Feyenoord: "I didn't see it live, because we were playing our last game at Feyenoord that day and I think I was at a party at that moment.

"But I got the text messages, people came to me showing me what he did. Jurgen is so, so popular with the fans and the staff around the AXA Training Centre because of how successful he was, but definitely also because of the person he was.

"So to do this, which has never been done before, it might happen again in the future but I don't expect it to happen a lot and it says a lot about him that he did this.

"I should ask him if he came up with this at that moment or he thought about it weeks before because to come up with 'Jurgen Klopp la la la' and then to change it to Arne Slot is quite creative. So I will ask him if he came up with it then or thought about it weeks before."