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Liverpool’s players will be reunited with Pep Lijnders when they face Manchester City on Sunday - but the Reds’ former assistant coach isn’t the only secret weapon Pep Guardiola might have up his sleeve.
Lijnders is of course best remembered at Anfield for his stint as Jurgen Klopp’s assistant, during a period in which Liverpool became Premier League, European and world champions.
The Dutchman left the Reds at the same time as Klopp and subsequently became manager of Red Bull Salzburg, although it would prove to be a short spell in charge as he was fired after just 29 games.
A few months later, Lijnders’ surprise return to the Premier League was confirmed as he was announced as Guardiola’s new assistant at City - and he wasn’t the only former Liverpool coach to arrive at the Etihad.
James French was also appointed as part of a shake-up with Guardiola’s backroom staff, having been at Liverpool for 13 years, where he worked as a first-team opposition analyst.
Having been appointed as City’s new set-piece coach, French - along with Lijnders - will be aiming to give the Reds’ rivals an upper hand as they aim to narrow the gap on current league leader Arsenal.
“It has been an incredible impact with us,” Guardiola said on working with Lijnders and French during his press conference on Friday.
Speaking specifically about Lijnders, Guardiola added: “It’s so pleasant to work with him. I’m learning a lot, a lot.
“It’s a process that makes me feel like I’m a better manager. Of course, he (Lijnders) knows individual qualities of the players at Liverpool, most of them, because they’ve been working (together) a lot.”
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On both Lijnders and French, Guardiola said: “It’s not necessary to tell me how highly they speak about all of them, but the way they play (with) Arne (Slot) comparing that maybe they did slightly different things.
"And definitely in the end, of course, you have to see what they do with Arne, not what they have done when he was with Jurgen in Liverpool."
Both sides have ground to make up in the title race, adding some extra significance to Sunday's game, especially after Arsenal’s slip-up at Sunderland on Saturday.
City begins the day seven points behind the Gunners, while Liverpool sits eight points back, with a defeat for either side potentially having a seriously damaging effect on their title hopes.
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