Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has heaped praise on his Augsburg counterpart Markus Weinzierl ahead of the Reds' Europa League clash with the Bundesliga club on Thursday.

Klopp said he expected Weinzierl to have the Bundesliga club well prepared for the first leg of their Round of 32 tie despite the fact the Bavarian outfit sit 14th in the German top flight.

"It is not too easy, Bundesliga clubs are never easy to play and especially a club like Augsburg who are a special story in Germany," he said.

"One of the most famous German footballers played there - Bernd Schuster - but it took them a long time to come back to the Bundesliga.

"Now they are there with a really good manager, Markus Weinzierl, who is one of the highest-rated managers in Germany at this moment and a lot of clubs are thinking about him.

"Their manager said it would be better for them if Liverpool had another [non-German] manager because they would never have been to Augsburg.

"I know a lot more about Augsburg, I've played a lot of times against them and that makes the preparation easier but that is all.

"In the end, they will fight for everything. If it is the biggest game in their history you can imagine how ready they are for this game."