Klopp hopes Manchester City vs Liverpool will be played at the Etihad Stadium

Neil Jones

Klopp hopes Manchester City vs Liverpool will be played at the Etihad Stadium image

Jurgen Klopp hopes next week's crunch Manchester City vs Liverpool clash will be played at the Etihad Stadium.

The Reds are due to travel to Manchester next Thursday, in a game which could see them clinch the Premier League title at the home of their nearest challengers.

Liverpool will be guaranteed their first championship since 1990 if they take four points from their next two games, starting against Crystal Palace at Anfield on Wednesday evening. 

Should they win that game, City would need to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge 24 hours later to keep the title race going. 

There have been concerns that, if it was the case that Liverpool could win the league at the Etihad, the game may need to be moved to a neutral venue due to the risk of supporters congregating in and around the stadium. 

Manchester City Council's Safety Advisory Group will meet on Thursday to decide whether that will be the case, but Klopp believes the example of Sunday's Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, which passed without incident, should mean the game goes ahead as planned at the Etihad.

"Honestly, I would prefer it is at Manchester otherwise it would be really difficult to organise it," the Reds boss said. "I don't know how it would be but it would not be in Liverpool so it would mean we both have to go somewhere where we both need a hotel. That is the only issue.

"Apart from that we play where they send us to but I would prefer it in Manchester. I don't know about the process, I wait until the final information is confirmed whether it is Manchester or not. It would be a challenge for both clubs."

He added: "I don't know enough about the history of English football to be concerned about the City game against us, but the City stadium is pretty well located to close it down if someone was there close to the stadium.

"But I don't see that. The whole period we are in showed that the massive majority of people really behaved responsibly and seriously and take this situation as it is: the discipline level is probably as high as ever before.

"I was not worried about that. I know football fans since I was five years old and 98 per cent of them are completely fine and have the same view on life as I have, and love similar things that I do.

"At this moment in time I was not worried about that, but maybe I don't know enough about it when we go there (to City). But Sunday was a good example, 100 per cent."

Neil Jones

Neil Jones Photo

Neil Jones is the Liverpool FC Correspondent for Goal, covering the Reds home, away and abroad. Neil joined Goal in March 2018, having previously spent eight years working for the Liverpool ECHO as a football reporter. A born-and-bred Scouser, Neil is a trusted and authoritative voice on Liverpool, and regularly appears on the club’s official TV channel, LFCTV, to talk about the club. He is also a regular contributor to podcasts such as The Anfield Wrap, Redmen TV and Anfield Index, and can be found on Saturday mornings turning out for his local amateur club, FC Bootle St Edmunds, where he is also the assistant manager.