Jurgen Klopp hopes Pep Guardiola saw something special in Liverpool's 4-1 win over Stoke City on Tuesday, and is excited about coming up against his Manchester City counterpart on Saturday.
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The Reds are set to come up against City in a direct clash for the Premier League title at Anfield, and Guardiola was at Anfield to witness them come from behind against Stoke.
It was a result that saw Klopp's men regain their place behind Premier League leaders Chelsea, putting them one point ahead of Manchester City.
Adam Lallana, Roberto Firmino and Daniel Sturridge were all on target for Liverpool, but their manager quickly turned his attention to the encounter against his old Bundesliga adversary on 31 December.
"Pep Guardiola was here," Klopp said to reporters. "Michael Edwards, the sporting director, messaged me to say that.
"I'm not sure he has watched a lot of games in other stadiums the last few weeks, eh? That's the first sign that it is a special game!
"We are already looking forward. It's a difficult game for both teams, but an exciting one. The best news for us is that it's at Anfield.
"What can I say, I'm really looking forward to it. They're an outstanding side, we are not too bad. It'll be a nice game.
"I respect them a lot, but I have not been to City's stadium this season or last to watch games. Maybe they want to watch good football, maybe Pep saw nothing tonight.
"The game is on the 31st. So whatever I say tonight, we cannot win it tonight. But maybe I could say a few things that make it more difficult for us. It's probably best I shut my mouth!"
Klopp is sure of his side’s quality heading into a game against a side seen as one of the strongest in the league this season.
Nevertheless, the German feels they need to be more consistent, having seen them lose to Bournemouth and draw with West Ham amidst an otherwise solid run of games.
“Confidence is not a problem of the team at the moment. We know about our quality, but obviously we don't show it all the time," he continued.
"The start of the game was really difficult, because the plan of Stoke was to press really high especially with the two strikers. We were not patient enough in our passing game, we could have done more.
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"It became a wild game, and when they had the ball it was immediately in the air. Peter Crouch did outstanding work, he was really difficult to defend, Joe Allen was brilliant with the second balls in the beginning.
"We had to work really hard, and it was completely open. In the creating of our moments, we struggled a little bit with protection, our positioning, holding the wing, these things.
"A lot of things we could have done better, but we forced two goals with our quality. Both were really good, really important.”