Head-To-Head: Rafa v Klopp

By Tom Easterby - Newcastle United Club Reporter

Rafa Benitez and Jurgen Klopp come face to face for the first time in the Barclays Premier League on Merseyside this weekend.

Champions League-winning boss Benitez - who won four trophies, including the top prize in European football, during his time in charge of Liverpool - will return to Anfield on Saturday, where he will pit his team against a side recently guided into the semi-finals of the Europa League by Klopp.

Since Benitez left the Reds in 2010, they have found silverware on the continent hard to come by, and supporters will be hoping that Klopp, a Champions League finalist and two-time Bundesliga winner during his time in the Borussia Dortmund hot seat, can end their near 11-year wait for another European trophy.

And it was while both managers were in search of such a prize that they last met. Benitez's Napoli side were drawn to face Klopp's Dortmund in the group stages of the 2013-14 Champions League.

The first clash between the pair took place on 18th September 2013 in Naples, where Benitez chalked up a victory in front of a crowd of over 55,000. Argentinian forward Gonzalo Higuain opened the scoring for the Italian side and Lorenzo Insigne made it two with just over 20 minutes remaining.

Klopp - who saw his goalkeeper, Roman Weidenfeller, sent off late in the first half - was unable to inspire a comeback, despite Juan Camilo Zuniga's late own goal reducing the deficit.

In the reverse fixture on 26th November 2013, though, the German manager saw his team run out 3-1 winners in front of a typically raucous Signal Iduna Park crowd. A Marco Reus penalty opened the scoring and Jakub Blaszczykowski extended their advantage on the hour.

Insigne brought Benitez's men back into the contest but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made sure of the points for Dortmund, who went on to top Group F, while Napoli were forced to settle for a Europa League place.

Benitez and Klopp meet again on Saturday in very different circumstances. Benitez - who went on to manage Inter Milan, Chelsea, Napoli and Real Madrid after leaving Liverpool - is chasing the points that could help drag Newcastle United away from the threat of relegation, while Klopp has that Europa League semi-final first leg in Villarreal on the horizon the following Thursday.

The two managers may not be sending their teams out to do battle in Europe this weekend, but with Newcastle just two points behind 17th-placed Norwich - and safety - and Liverpool just two points behind West Ham in fifth, the stakes are still as high as ever.

Rafa's record v Jurgen Klopp

Played: 2

Won: 1

Drawn: 0

Lost: 1