Pepijn Lijnders will face Liverpool for the first time on Sunday after joining Man City as assistant – a move he vowed he would never make when leaving Anfield in 2024.When Lijnders departed Liverpool along with Jurgen Klopp and the majority of his backroom staff, he made himself clear.“I will not assist anyone else, that’s the moment I will go and I will manage. That was always the case,” he told the club’s official website in February of last year.He also told FourFourTwo: “I will assist Jurgen and Jurgen only. After this project I will be my own manager.”Soon after vacating his role as assistant manager, the Dutchman was appointed head coach of Red Bull Salzburg in what was poised to be the start of his new career.But sacked by Salzburg after just six months in charge, Lijnders then made the controversial move to become Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Man City over the summer.It did not go down well with Liverpool supporters, with his comments before leaving Anfield still lingering, and it could ensure a fiery reception from the travelling fans on Sunday.The 4.30pm kickoff at the Etihad will mark the first time Lijnders will be in the opposing dugout to Liverpool – a club he first joined as U16s coach in 2014.Guardiola saw Carlos Vicens, Juanma Lillo and Inigo Dominguez leave Man City over the summer with all three of the subsequent appointments having ties to Anfield.Lijnders arrived along with ex-Liverpool and Man City centre-back Kolo Toure as fellow assistant and former Reds analyst James French in the role of set-piece coach.While Lijnders may no longer be viewed as fondly by those on Merseyside, his decision to join Guardiola’s staff came with the blessing of Klopp himself.“Absolutely no problem. I like both Peps, that’s how it is, no problem with that,” he told the Diary of a CEO podcast.“I worked together with Pep Lijnders, he was an inspiration for me every day. Absolutely every day, I learned a lot from him.“Pep Guardiola, I couldn’t respect a manager more. “When they asked me, ‘what do you think, can we?’, [I said] ‘of course you can!’.“Come on, find a guy who worked together with Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp – I would read the book!“Pep Guardiola knew exactly what he was looking for: he wanted exactly this kind of spark, fire, and Pep has that, he’s an extreme well of energy. So I’m happy for them both.”