Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has revealed that he once sacrificed his Christmas holiday to watch 38 Liverpool matches in a single week.
The Blues will face Liverpool at Anfield this afternoon in what promises to be a crucial Premier League clash.
Maresca’s side has made a strong start to the season, but they will face a formidable opponent in Liverpool, who have only lost once in all competitions so far.
Speaking ahead of the match, Enzo Maresca shared that after retiring as a player in 2017, he spent the entire festive season analysing a full season of Jurgen Klopp’s famed “heavy metal football” at Liverpool.
“It was Christmas, I still remember,” he revealed.
“I was watching different kinds of work to understand and see how the best teams think.
“It was four or five years ago. I’d finished playing and started as a manager.
“I watched 38 games of Liverpool in one week – to study and analyse how they were with their previous manager, in terms of the pressing and this kind of thing.
“So I really know Liverpool players because I watched them many, many, many times.
“That team, the first one, two, three years of Klopp, and the way they were pressing was especially good because of Salah, (Roberto) Firmino and (Sadio) Mane.
“Not only on the ball. It was off the ball, the way they were aggressive was something unbelievable.
“I really like Salah not only because he is good on the ball but because he’s fantastic off it.”
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