With Liverpool hosting Manchester City at Anfield this Sunday, it will surely be another epic encounter between two of the Premier League’s most successful managers.
Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp have been battling it out at the top of the Premier League table for the better part of five years and have produced some of the league’s most exciting games, but how does their ‘rivalry’ compare to managerial battles of the past?
888sport hoped to clarify this in the latest episode of the ‘The Playlist’, as Rory Jennings, Robbie Lyle, Ade Oladipo and Abbi Summers ranked their five greatest manager rivalries in Premier League history.
The panel were quick to dismiss the Guardiola Klopp rivalry being in their top fives due to the friendly nature between the two managers, opting to go for manager rivalries that had antics and genuine dislike involved.
One rivalry that had all that and then some was between Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger. When Chelsea and Arsenal clashed, Mourinho and Wenger didn’t shy away from throwing insults at one another, even getting into a touchline scuffle one game that Jennings and Oladipo highlighted at the height of their rivalry.
Another rivalry the Arsenal boss was involved in was against legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. The matches between Arsenal and United were fierce and both coaches imprinted their rivalry in their players on the pitch, with some iconic battles between players such as Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane.
The panel also highlights ex-Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez and his clashes with Ferguson and Mourinho and also mention the recent touchline battle between Antonio Conte and Thomas Tuchel, albeit too premature to place in a top five list since Tuchel was sacked by Chelsea just weeks ago.
