Pep Guardiola has admitted he is having to watch Liverpool games on a more regular basis following the departure of Jurgen Klopp.
Guardiola formed an intense rivalry with the former Reds boss during the eight years they went head-to-head with each other
The duo also spent time battling for the Bundesliga during Guardiola's stint as Bayern Munich boss and Klopp's Borussia Dortmund tenure
With Klopp now gone, however, Guardiola must prepare to face off against Arne Slotand work out the best way to combat the Dutchman's tactics.
This will first be put to the test at Anfield on November 30, with the reverse fixture at the Etihad taking place in February.
Describing how the appointment of Slot has forced him to dig deep into the archives,
Guardiola said
“When I play a new club in the Champions League that I don't know, I see much more than playing against Arsenal, for example.
“Of course I want to watch Arsenal a lot, but Mikel has been there four or five years.
"And before with Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool. Now I have to watch more Liverpool because of Arne: I don't know exactly what they do. But with Jurgen, we knew each other better.
"When I was younger, I watched much, much more than now. Now I'm lazier.
“I think I watch well enough to understand what the opponents want to do. I try to choose the right footage to show my players, to convince them of what to do to try and beat them."
The Guardiola and Klopp era was indeed a factor in the new Liverpool head coach coming to Merseyside, as made clear by Slot himself
Slot said
“I think for everyone who loves football it was a fantastic era to watch the both of them getting the best out of each other," he said in June.”
“Liverpool came along and - like I just told you about the rivalry between City and Liverpool and the many games we as football fans saw - it wasn't a difficult choice to make."
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