Nostalgia merchants will be quick to shout it down, but there has never been a higher-quality rivalry than Jürgen Klopp vs Pep Guardiola. On their watch, Liverpool and Manchester City have repeatedly chased each other well beyond 90 points, with both sides breaking the previous Premier League points record on numerous occasions.
That mark of 95 was set by Chelsea in 2005 — so it was not even a product of the infamous Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger era. The numbers show that nobody has come close to building winning machines like the Klopp and Guardiola iterations of Liverpool and Manchester City respectively.
More than that, though, the head-to-head encounters have generally been of a supremely high standard. There have been a handful of forgettable draws in latter years, with Klopp and Guardiola long ago learning the need to afford the other utmost respect, but Liverpool vs Manchester City has generally been the fixture that does not disappoint.
The latest clash at Anfield was no exception. Manchester City had the better of the opening exchanges, a masterclass in how to overcome the Liverpool crowd with sheer quality on the ball, but Klopp’s side roared back into the contest. Klopp hailed the second half as the best his team has ever played against Guardiola’s men, and it’s hard to argue with that assessment.
In the end, the sides could not be split, although there was controversy when Liverpool was denied a second penalty deep into added time. It looked like a straightforward decision, with Alexis Mac Allister caught in the chest by the boot of Jérémy Doku.
Nonetheless, it goes down as another draw on the head-to-head record. And that could be that: there’s a chance that this was the last ever meeting between Klopp and Guardiola. Certainly, it’s the last league encounter between the pair as managers of Liverpool and Manchester City.
They could yet meet one last time in the FA Cup final, and who knows what the future brings beyond Klopp’s sabbatical? But for now, at least, the head-to-head record is ‘locked in’ — even if there is to be a dramatic final showdown at Wembley, Guardiola cannot move ahead of his long-standing rival.
As it stands, Klopp is one of just two managers to boast the superior head-to-head record against Guardiola, having contested at least five matches. He and Antonio Conte hold that rare honor, with the Liverpool boss having earned it over a far larger number of games (30 vs 7).
To date, Klopp has won 12 of those 30 meetings, while Guardiola has won 11. The remaining seven, including the weekend’s clash, have ended in draws. The Manchester City boss has averaged just 1.33 points per game in these encounters.
The head-to-head standings also incorporate a handful of games between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. This was a similar scenario — Klopp at the helm of the challenger, Guardiola guiding the perennial champion. It’s hard to overstate how impressive it is that the Liverpool manager is on top.
