Jurgen Klopp vs Erik ten Hag: Complete head-to-head record
- Klopp's Liverpool have faced two teams managed by Erik ten Hag
- Reds battled Ajax in the Champions League before Dutch coach took over at Man Utd
- Red Devils were beaten 7-0 at Anfield in March 2023 - Ten Hag's biggest defeat of his career
At the end of 2019, a panel of their peers deemed Jurgen Klopp and Erik ten Hag to be two of the best four managers in men's football.
Ten Hag backed Klopp to win that year's gong at FIFA's creatively named 'The Best' awards - which he did - but his relationship with Liverpool's long-serving manager hasn't always been so rosy. After leaving Ajax to join Manchester United, arguably Liverpool's fiercest rivals, Ten Hag's head-to-heads with Klopp have taken on an extra layer of enmity.
Here's how each manager has fared when their teams have duked it out on the pitch.
1. Ajax 0-1 Liverpool (21/10/2020)
At the end of a "wild" Champions League group-stage match that an injury-ravaged Liverpool narrowly edged courtesy of an own goal from Nicolas Tagliafico, Klopp couldn't help but point out the playing surface.
"I really think the pitch was really tricky. It was like deep, muddy a little bit," he said. "Even if you can’t see it from outside but it was like this because both teams looked really exhausted pretty early.”
They were hardly the worst conditions Liverpool have faced when playing in Amsterdam - a Johan Cruyff-inspired Ajax famously rattled five goals past Liverpool amid dense fog in 1966 - but Ten Hag wasn't too impressed either. "Let’s hope we get a better pitch at Anfield then," he snapped.
2. Liverpool 1-0 Ajax (01/12/2020)
Klopp had hoisted aloft the Champions League trophy one year earlier but described a 1-0 victory at home to Ten Hag's Ajax as "the most important, most difficult, most exceptional" European win of his entire tenure at the club.
As well as securing Liverpool's progress to the knockout stages with one game to spare - and thereby hampering Ajax's chances - the victory was achieved in front of an empty Anfield and without the likes of Alisson, Virgil van Dijk or Trent Alexander-Arnold.
While Liverpool's stand-in goalkeeper stood firm - Caoimhin Kelleher made four crucial saves while keeping a clean sheet on his Champions League debut - Ajax's first-choice custodian wilted.
Andre Onana wandered off his line but let Neco Williams' in-swinging cross drift through the air. However, the ball did not - as Onana expected - go out of play, instead landing on Curtis Jones' instep before nestling in an unguarded net. “I am not the best," Onana admitted, presumably to nods of agreement in the mixed zone, "mistakes can happen to anyone."
3. Man Utd 2-1 Liverpool (22/08/2022)
Both Liverpool and United limped into the third fixture of the 2022/23 Premier League season without a win. Klopp's side had been held to a pair of draws against Fulham and Crystal Palace while Ten Hag began his reign at United with defeats to Brighton and Brentford.
By the end of that sticky August night at Old Trafford, Liverpool remained winless. United, emphatically, were not.
Playing with a renewed verve and vigour, the hosts raced into a 2-0 lead before Mohamed Salah - so often United's tormentor-in-chief - nabbed a consolation goal.
Ten Hag was fizzing with enthusiasm as his side produced a preview of the type of performance which would become increasingly common in the Dutchman's debut campaign.
"There was communication, there was a fighting spirit and especially there was a team, and you can see what they can achieve," Ten Hag gleefully chirped. "Because they can f***ing play good football.”
4. Liverpool 7-0 Man Utd (05/03/2023)
After Ten Hag beat Klopp in their first Premier League clash, things continued to go well for the Dutchman and badly for the German with Man Utd 10 points ahead in the table by the time they met at Anfield.
While form is usually a good indicator of how things are going to go in a match though, that wasn't the case this time around with the home side blowing their rivals away.
The visitors were perhaps the better team in the first half but went into the break behind thanks to an excellent goal from Cody Gakpo, and the Dutchman wasn't gone there.
Ten Hag's compatriot and Darwin Nunez both scored at the beginning of the second half to make it 3-0, and the Red Devils completely fell apart after that.
Nunez went on to get a second, Mohamed Salah got two and Roberto Firmino got one to hand Man Utd's boss the biggest defeat of his managerial career.
5. Liverpool 0-0 Man Utd (17/12/2023)
The pre-match narrative of this fixture was dominated by Man Utd's woes. Ten Hag went into another daunting trip to Anfield without a whole host of players due to injuries, while creative talisman Bruno Fernandes was suspended.
The Dutchman wisely adopted a cautious and pragmatic game plan which ultimately facilitated an awfully drab affair. Liverpool dominated territorially and peppered the United goal (34 shots), but Andre Onana was so infrequently worked that you never felt they'd score.
As the contest wore on, the unfancied visitors started to have success in transition and they could've stolen all three points hadn't Trent Alexander-Arnold poked the ball away from Alejandro Garnacho before he pulled the trigger or Rasmus Hojlund hit his effort straight at Alisson after being fed in behind.
A point was all both teams deserved.
6. Man Utd 4-3 Liverpool (AET) (17/03/2024)
Talk about an instant classic!
Man Utd headed into this FA Cup quarter-final with Liverpool knowing the competition was their last chance of silverware in the 2023/24 season. The Reds, on the other hand, were still in the hunt for four cups in Klopp's last campaign at Anfield.
Scott McTominay arrived to poke the Red Devils ahead, but two goals before half-time from Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah sent the visiting side into the break with the lead.
Antony managed a dramatic equaliser to force extra time, where it looked like Harvey Elliott's deflected strike from distance would send Liverpool to the Wembley semi-finals.
However, Marcus Rashford finally converted and Amad Diallo kept his cool to hand Man Utd a 4-3 win and Ten Hag just his second victory over Klopp.
7. Man Utd 2-2 Liverpool (07/04/23)
The likely final Premier League duel between these two managers wasn't half bad either.
This contest somewhat resembled the chaotic FA Cup tie, with the shares being spoiled after 90 minutes. Liverpool were once again dominant against a United side that once again utilised what Jonathan Wilson labelled post-match as 'inverted pressing'.
The Reds swept through the space haven that was United's midfield time-and-time again, but with their advantage only being one heading into the second half, there was a feeling that Ten Hag's side were capable of working their way back into the contest.
The opportunistic Bruno Fernandes took advantage of Jarell Quansah's error to equalise with United's first shot before the blossoming Kobbie Mainoo echoed Federico Macheda's brilliance from 2009 to hand United a remarkable lead.
Utterly wasteful in the final third, Liverpool couldn't quite believe what unfolded after the restart, but they did fight back to earn a point with Mohamed Salah scoring from the penalty spot.
In a title race where the margin for error is so small, Liverpool's profligate showing at Old Trafford could prove costly.
Jurgen Klopp vs Erik ten Hag H2H record
- Jurgen Klopp: 3 wins
- Erik ten Hag: 2 wins
- Draws: 2
Goals scored
- Teams managed by Klopp: 15
- Teams managed by Ten Hag: 8
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