Jurgen Klopp met Brendan Rodgers days before Liverpool thrashed Manchester City

No tips on how to make Martin Demichelis and Eliaquim Mangala look like chumps.

Liverpool's 4-1 thumping of Manchester City could yet spark a successful bid for Champions League football and a possible title thrust. It is that type of a season. The Reds went into the away match without a recognised striker, yet tore City to shreds with pressing football and scything counter-attacks. It was a marked departure from the stuttering start to the season Liverpool had under ex manager Brendan Rodgers. While new boss Jurgen Klopp is taking all the plaudits, he revealed that a meeting had taken place between himself and Rodgers days before that City victory. Klopp to Liverpool Echo:

"It was a really nice talk, he is a nice guy. “I said that before I met him and we had a good talk. There was nothing else about sport – we spoke about the world and private things. It is not for you. “I did things like this with Thomas Tuchel [his successor] at Dortmund."

The German stressed that little football, or tactics, were discussed. He commented, "If I wanted to ask him something about the club I would have met him earlier, not after six weeks. "It is not important what we talked about."