Pep Lijnders could prove Man City secret weapon in title race after Pep Guardiola admission

Pep Lijnders was Jurgen Klopp's assistant at Liverpool and Pep Guardiola says the Dutch coach is proving to be a big asset this season as Man City chases down Arsenal

Pep Guardiola and Pep Lijnders on the Man City bench.(Image: Neal Simpson/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has heaped praise on Pep Lijnders, who was Jurgen Klopp's assistant at Liverpool and now works for the Etihad side.

Guardiola brought Lijnders to Manchester in the summer when he was available following a short stint at Red Bull Salzburg, where he was fired after a few months. Vitor Matos was Lijnders' assistant in Austria; he is now a number one at Swansea City in the Championship.

Arsenal leads the Premier League standings but Manchester City, fired forward by a free-scoring Erling Haaland, is only two points behind. Liverpool, in fourth spot, is 10 points off the summit.

"He's good. Pep is so, so good," Guardiola said, speaking about his number two. "He's a top manager. There are some, you say they're an assistant. No no; maybe I'm his assistant."

Lijnders had said that he would only work with Klopp in England, but was tempted back to the Premier League to work with Guardiola, who has tended to freshen up his backroom staff regularly since he has been in England.

Lijnders initially arrived at Liverpool under Brendan Rodgers in 2014. He left in 2018 to manage the Dutch side NEC Nijmegen in the Eredivisie, but that didn't last long.

Former Liverpool assistant Pep Lijnders joined Pep Guardiola's coaching staff during the summer(Image: Getty Images)

The now 42-year-old was dismissed at the end of that season and became Klopp's assistant in 2019 in the wake of Zeljko Buvac's departure.

As well as lifting the Premier League and Champions League with the Reds, he also won the FA Cup, two League Cups, the FIFA Club World Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, and the Community Shield.

Klopp now works for the Red Bull group as its head of global soccer. However, Lijnders was fired before the German took on that position around a year ago.

"Absolutely no problem, I like it!" Klopp said on the Diary of a CEO podcast when quizzed on Lijnders switching Premier League clubs. "I like both Peps, that’s how it is, no problem with that.

"I worked together with Pep Lijnders; he was an inspiration for me every day when we worked together, absolutely every day. I learned a lot from him. And Pep Guardiola, I couldn’t respect a manager more.

"And when they asked me, like a bit [shy], 'What do you think? Can we?'. Of course you can! Come on, find a guy who worked together with Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp; I would read that book!

"And Pep Guardiola knew exactly what he was looking for. He wanted exactly this kind of spark, fire, and Pep Lijnders has that. He is an extreme well of energy, so I’m happy for them both."