Saint says Liverpool are the best team he’s ever faced

Ian Watson

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg: Impressed with Liverpool

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has played against the big boys of the Bundesliga and some of the top teams in the Premier League – but the Southampton midfielder has named Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool as the best side he has ever come up against.

Saints held Liverpool to a goalless draw on Saturday as Klopp’s attacking talent all suffered an off-day, missing a number of decent chances to keep the Reds clear at the top of the Premier League.

Hojbjerg came back into the Southampton side for the clash at St Mary’s but he and his team-mates spent most of the afternoon camped in their own half trying to stave off their visitors’ search for a winning goal.

And the 21-year-old Denmark international, who signed from Bayern Munich in the summer, paid Klopp’s side the biggest compliment following the stalemate.

“I played in Germany against Bayern Munich and Dortmund, I played against Manchester City in the Champions League, but I must say this is maybe the best team I have ever played against,” he told saintsfc.co.uk.

“It’s not only that they move the ball quickly. They also have fast players, and with the ball they are very good one against one.

“It’s unbelievable how they move, how they stand, how they work together – it’s like a symphony.”

With an off-target Charlie Austin header the best opportunity Claude Puel’s men could muster on a stormy afternoon, Hojbjerg was ultimately pleased to take a share of the spoils.

“As always, the best is to win, but against a fantastic team like Liverpool you have to realise that a point is a fantastic result,” he added.

“We should be happy with the one point, but it’s not that I say this is not our level. We can come up here and we have something to say up here and we showed that today.”