This archive report was first published on 22 September 2019.
Published on September 22, 2019, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is bracing for a fierce fight against Chelsea's young players, who remind him of his own Borussia Dortmund sides that dominated Germany and Europe.
Klopp, whose Premier League leaders take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, built a dynamic team in his seven years at Dortmund fueled by gifted prodigies including Mario Goetze, Nuri Sahin, Shinji Kagawa, and Robert Lewandowski.
He sees more than a few similarities between Dortmund teams that won the Bundesliga in consecutive seasons and reached the Champions League final in 2013, and the way Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has put his faith in the Blues' kids.
"It's a really exciting team, it reminds me a little bit of my team at Dortmund years back when they were really young, even younger than this Chelsea team," Klopp said.
"A good team, all my respect. They are a proper contender for pretty much everything," Klopp added.
Academy graduates Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, and Fikayo Tomori have all enjoyed strong starts to Lampard's first season in charge, with Chelsea's transfer ban forcing their new manager to give the youngsters an opportunity that was hard to come by in previous years of big spending by the Blues.
