Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp was in high spirits in his Friday press conference as the German boss previewed the Reds highly anticipated clash with bitter rivals Manchester United.

The Reds look to continue on their best ever domestic start to a season - registering 42 points from a possible 48 - to ensure Liverpool are sitting pretty at the summit of the top flight standings.

Klopp detailed the importance of his team continuing to lead the rest of the pile in the Premier League table, but, also fixated on how 'special' the match is for himself as well as the fans.

"Being part of this game is pretty special. It's a big one. When I was in Germany I tried everything to watch it. Very often, very intense. It's always been tight against them", said Klopp.

Ninth time lucky?

The 51-year-old boss will take charge of his eighth clash with the club's oldest and fiercest rivals and is still searching for his first victory against the Red Devils.

Despite Klopp's previous failings against United, Liverpool currently sit 16 points above Jose Mourinho's struggling side in the league table.

However, the former Borussia Dortmund manager isn't underestimating the talent on display in this underachieving United side.

"I've never been interested in the points of Manchester United", continued Klopp.

"I've been aware of the criticism but when we analyse and switch off the sound there is a lot of quality, technique, strength, De Gea in the goal."

The Reds are yet to beat the Red Devils domestically in their previous eight league meetings and Klopp is determined to finally end his United hoodoo by getting a rare victory over the Premier League's record winning side.

“I don’t think we always got the right result, last year they had a very good start in the home game against us but then we more or less took over and couldn’t get the game back."

Liverpool will be heading into the epic encounter off the back of four successive victories and will also be boosted from their midweek heroics in which the Reds confirmed their Champions League destiny by reaching the knockout stages of the competition following a 1-0 victory over Napoli.

Despite the euphoria of making the last-16 of Europes most prestigious tournament, Klopp made sure his player's focus was quickly diverted to the contest on Sunday and emphasised how important the clash is to his players.

“This week, we reached a big target on Tuesday, so we had one day exactly to feel the relief of that. On Tuesday it was not clear that we would stay in the Champions League, so the boys did the job.

"On Wednesday they calmed down and since yesterday we are back on track. Today is the most important session to prepare that game.

“I’m really looking forward to it. I hope the people are ready again to create an atmosphere like Tuesday night, which was special.”

Clyne ready to make his first league appearance of the season

Liverpool were recently handed a setback following the injury to fullback Trent Alexander-Arnold who is likely to miss the match with the Red Devils on Sunday.

Klopp confirmed the injury isn't as serious as first anticipated and emphasised his squad is adequately equipped to deal with setbacks such as the casualties suffered in recent weeks.

"It's (Trent's injury) not as serious as the other two boys (Gomez and Matip) but it's not top class news. It's my job to find a solution for it."

It means that long-term absentee Nathanial Clyne could return to first-team proceedings and Liverpool's manager isn't afraid of throwing the Englishman into such a high-profile game despite not featuring domestically for the Reds all season.

"He (Clyne) was unfortunately injured in past 2/3 weeks but luckily he's back in full training for 3 or 4 days. Is he ready for 90mins? I don't know. But is he ready for Sunday? Yeah."

"Clyney is a very experienced player. We have other options too. Rafa Camacho played outstandingly well in pre-season there."

The list of defensive losses has significantly grown in recent weeks with both Joe Gomez and Joel Matip set for at least six weeks on the sidelines and the loss of Alexander-Arnold hasn't helped proceedings.

The number of bodies falling to the doctor's office is growing, but, Klopp confirmed in the press conference that he won't be tempted to dip into the upcoming January transfer window for replacements.

"We have two CBs left. Will we do something in January? It's not really likely but we have to think about it."