Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner backed close friend Jurgen Klopp to guide Liverpool to their first league title in 28 years as he prepares for a first taste of Premier League football.
Wagner, who was the best man at Klopp’s wedding, deployed the ‘gegenpressing’ tactics favoured by the Liverpool boss as soon as he arrived in Yorkshire in November 2015, leading to comparisons between the two coaches.
The pair will go head-to-head in competitive action for the first time when Huddersfield visit Anfield on October 28th, and when asked by Bild who he expected to win the Premier League, Wagner replied: “Liverpool”.
Wagner’s side earned promotion to the top tier of English football via a penalty shoot-out victory in last season’s Championship play-off final against Reading in May, and he said the Terriers – who have not played in the top division for 45 years – are the least fancied side in Premier League history.
“It is unquestionable that we are the biggest underdog of all time in the Premier League,” said Wagner, who went on to highlight the importance of the shift in Huddersfield’s style of play during the last two seasons.
“People have been going to the stadium here for many years and have always seen this typical British football.
“And suddenly two clowns come from Germany [Wagner and his assistant Christoph Buhler], and within four weeks the football looks quite different!”
