Jurgen Klopp has a mightily impressive record against Pep Guardiola.
Pep Guardiola isn’t easily beaten. The Catalan tactician has always been accustomed to winning, whether it’s been while he was in charge at Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Manchester City.
One man who knows how to beat him, though, is Jurgen Klopp. The Liverpool manager oversaw a thrilling 4-3 victory for the Reds on Sunday as City’s invincibility finally slipped, their defence capitulating in spectacular fashion during a frantic second half period to allow Klopp’s side to run riot.
But it wasn’t the first time Klopp has enjoyed the spoils over his rival. In fact, it was the sixth time the German has beaten Guardiola, which is more than any other manager.
Of the seven managers who have faced Pep Guardiola in 10+ matches just one has a winning head-to-head (W-D-L) record:
José Mourinho: 4-6-10
Joaquín Caparrós: 0-3-10
Mauricio Pochettino: 2-4-6
Jürgen Klopp: 6-1-5
Arsène Wenger: 3-3-6
Manuel Pellegrini: 2-1-8
Unai Emery: 0-4-6 pic.twitter.com/brgvZRq0VF— Mohamed Moallim (@iammoallim) January 14, 2018
Four of those came when Klopp was in charge of Borussia Dortmund. The first was in the German Super Cup in July 2013, when Dortmund beat Bayern 4-2. He also sealed momentous wins over his rival on two more occasions before coming to England. Then, in December 2016, Georginio Wijnaldum’s strike sealed three points for Liverpool against City for Klopp’s fourth win over Guardiola.
However, the 4-3 victory over City on Sunday is arguably the pick of the bunch, reducing the runaway leaders to quivering wrecks for a spell in the second half.
It’s further proof that Klopp and his players often relish the biggest occasions and will bolster the sense of positivity in the post-Coutinho landscape at Anfield. The performance was a stirring reminder that, even without the fleet-footed Brazilian, Liverpool are a scintillating attacking unit. They’re a team who, imbued with their manager’s infectious positivity, refused to tremble at the task at hand, toppling a team of City’s quality to stretch their unbeaten run to 14 games.
If Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah continue to operate with such verve and fluency, Liverpool will certainly be a major factor in the title race next season now that they have Virgil van Dijk.
With Naby Keita also due to arrive in the summer, Klopp needs to sign a world-class goalkeeper and take this exciting project to new heights.
Well played lads! 🔴 pic.twitter.com/nTR0n4halI
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 14, 2018
