Ole Gunnar Solskjaer appeared stunned to find out he had made a better start to his Manchester United career than Jurgen Klopp did at Liverpool, though laughed off comparisons.
The Norwegian coach is looking to end the league leaders’ 100% start to the new season when Liverpool visit Old Trafford on Sunday in what will be his 30th match in charge.
He has picked up 14 wins and 49 points in the previous 29 matches, which is actually better than Klopp managed over the same number of games when he first took over Liverpool (13 wins, 47 points).
At Friday’s pre-match press conference, their respective records were put to Solskjaer who looked both bemused and a little impressed by how similar they were.
After pulling a face and allowing himself a little chuckle, Solskjaer dismissed the statistic – though did later concede that both managers had similar issues to face when they first took over at their respective clubs.
Asked if his better winning record than Klopp through 29 games is something he holds onto, Solskjaer said: ‘No, I don’t hold onto stats like this.
‘I’m just working as planned, business as usual, trying to improve the team, trying to work towards something.
‘Of course we’re heading somewhere, we feel, but we need results and I expect the players to come out and prove why they’re at Man United.’
He later acknowledged a similarity with Klopp as he looks to vastly improve United’s fitness, saying: ‘I remember when Jurgen came in at Liverpool, if you compare, he also seemed to get a few injuries early on because of the workload and intensity he wanted his team to play with.
‘But you don’t see that any more. He can play with the same 11 every week and we can get there.’
