Jurgen Klopp has labelled Willian a ‘Premier League great’ as the Brazilian prepares to take on Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
The Reds boss watched his side book their place in the Europa League knockout stages last night but a quick turnaround sees Marco Silva’s Fulham up next for the Merseyside club.
That means the German will come up against a player he describes as one of the greatest players to grace the Premier League in Willian.
While some may appear perplexed by Klopp’s admission, the Liverpool manager’s infatuation with the 35-year-old may come from his heroics in helping the Reds win the Premier League title in 2020.
The Brazilian converted a penalty to hand Chelsea a 2-1 win over Manchester City which confirmed Liverpool’s first top-flight title since 1990 – a moment Klopp previously revealed as his favourite ever in the Premier League.
“That’s easy – we didn’t even play,” Klopp said when asked about his standout moment. “It was the penalty for Chelsea, when Willian scored a penalty.
“It was against Man City, and we became champions in that moment. Definitely that one, yeah.”
Third-placed Liverpool are well positioned to launch another assault on the Premier League title but must first find a way past the Cottagers to stay in touch with Manchester City and leaders Arsenal.
Ahead of Sunday’s clash, Klopp was full of praise for Silva’s exploits in west London and warned his side they must be on guard to deal with Fulham’s threat from set-pieces.
“They have very creative set pieces, really creative, so we need to make sure we prepare for that properly,” Klopp told his press conference ahead of the game.
Willian scored from the spot to beat Man City and hand Liverpool the title in 2020getty
Rampant Liverpool lost just one league match before wrapping up the titlegetty
“Marco is a top manager, he’s doing a brilliant job in a strong league, I’m not saying they are overachieving but they are doing particularly well and it’s a really good football team.
“With Jiminez up front, Vinicius, and then one of the greatest, the little curly one, one of the greatest the Premier League ever saw, who is still going and going and going [Willian] and Pereira.
“It’s just a good football team, well set up and it makes it special, and their little stadium there, they can create a proper atmosphere and we’ve had our struggles there.
“But this time it’s at Anfield, it’s home and we have to make sure it will be extremely difficult for them.”
