Jurgen Klopp aims dig at Erik ten Hag and Man Utd hours before Liverpool FA Cup clash

Before the two teams’ FA Cup quarterfinal matchup on Sunday, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has taken a jab at Manchester United.

Liverpool will visit United at Old Trafford as both teams attempt to secure a Wembley ticket for later in the year.

Following their victory in the Carabao Cup at Wembley, Liverpool will now attempt to clinch a historic quadruple. In Klopp’s last season as manager, they still have a chance to win the FA Cup, Premier League, and Europa League.

The German boss will visit Old Trafford once more as an opposing manager when the two teams play in the Premier League the following month.

However, in remarks made prior to the FA Cup match, Klopp cited a comment from Sir Alex Ferguson to argue that Liverpool’s rivalry with United is no greater than that of any other elite team in English football.

“I know the famous line about the perch, but when I came here, I had other things on my mind than Manchester United,” he remarked.

“In my first year, Leicester won the league, then Chelsea and Manchester City. So nothing [special plans] with Manchester United.

“It’s not me to think about anybody else. If we face United, yes [I want to beat them]. If we don’t, they can do what they want. I can’t influence it.

“I couldn’t start building by thinking, ‘We want to reach there’. I had to go step-by-step.”

In 2002, Ferguson infamously told The Guardian that his greatest challenge in football was ‘knocking Liverpool right off their f***ing perch’.

Even though the Scot often put United ahead of Liverpool while he was manager, since his departure in 2013, the tide has decisively turned against him.

Since then, United has finished ahead of Liverpool five times in the Premier League, including under Erik ten Hag last season, but right now, the margin between the two teams appears to be the largest it has been in a while.