SAINTS boss Ralph Hasenhuttl says “it’s hard to compare” a personal battle with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp but admits “it’s always a pleasure” to play his teams.

The Austrian has great respect for Kop chief Klopp, who was leading Borussia Dortmund to the top of the Bundesliga while Hasenhuttl was managing in the second and third divisions of German football.

Hasenhuttl’s side are set to do battle with the two-time Best FIFA Men’s Coach of the Year winner’s outfit at Anfield on Saturday.

And speaking ahead of the Premier League contest, Hasenhuttl was asked what it’s like to go up against his counterpart

“It is always a pleasure to play against a team managed by Jurgen, one of the biggest challenges in football,” he admitted.

“Hard to compare because we have different levels where we are coming from with our teams.

“I mean we play in the same league, but I want to speak about a formula one race between (Lewis Hamilton and Lewis Verstappen), we are not a Mercedes, we are not a Red Bull and you race against these cars.

“You have to make yourself big in the turns to don’t let them pass, we need a good start, we need everything to get something there.

“I can guarantee you one thing that we are brave again and that we want to be active.”

Saints have had a full week of preparation following their 2-1 defeat at Norwich last weekend, while Liverpool hosted Porto at Anfield in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Hasenhuttl says he’s been relishing the work in the week to try and outwit his opponent.

He added: “I enjoy the work during the week because the lovely thing is that you can definitely prepare however you want here in this club.

“Nobody costs you energy if you want to try something new, if you don’t want, if you want to stick to what you are normally doing, it’s also ok.

“You can absolutely fully concentrate on the work you want to do for the weekend, give the team the full belief in what we are doing, work on every part of your game during the week to be as best prepared as possible for the weekend.

“And then you have to fight for having the luck to get something and this is what you need to do, every week and against the big teams the same like, as the smaller teams if you want, this is always the biggest challenge in the Premier League.

“You play against the best manager, the best teams, in the world, you cannot ask for more as a manager.”