da betway： The Liverpool and Manchester City bosses could be meeting for the last time on Sunday, but how does their rivalry compare to other great clashes?
da mrbet： "The best rival I ever had in my life” is how Pep Guardiola has described Jurgen Klopp in the past but Sunday's top-of-the-table Premier League showdown between Liverpool and Manchester City could be the last time they ever meet on the sidelines.
Guardiola and Klopp's relentless competitiveness has enriched the Premier League and the competition will not be the same when the avuncular German walks into the sunset in May after nine eventful seasons at Anfield.
But how does the Liverpool and City coaches' rivalry compare to the other great managerial clashes that the Premier League has witnessed?
Getty 10Arsene Wenger vs Sam Allardyce
Allardyce was never going to rival Wenger when it came to winning trophies but he sure enjoyed getting one over the Frenchman, who often spoke in patronising terms whenever he faced Big Sam's uncompromising sides. Bolton dealt Arsenal a huge blow in the 2002-03 title race when they came back from two goals down to draw 2-2. And Allardyce pulled off another big result over Arsenal while in charge of Blackburn, a 2-1 win in 2010 also effectively ending the Gunners' title charge.
"I enjoyed beating Arsenal more than anyone when I was in charge at Bolton. We'd really got to them and Arsene Wenger hated us," Allardyce wrote in his autobiography. "We drew with them or beat them more often than expected and Wenger couldn't handle it. There was one time he wouldn't shake hands with me at Highbury because we got a draw. I saw him ripping his tie off and throwing it on the floor in anger. He takes it all very personally and has an air of arrogance."
AdvertisementGetty 9Pep Guardiola vs Jose Mourinho
Mourinho and Guardiola were once contemporaries at Barcelona but became bitter opponents as managers. They first came up against each other in an unforgettable Champions League semi-final tie between Inter and Barca while their rivalry became even more toxic when Mourinho took charge of Real Madrid. The most scandalous incident was when the Portuguese poked Guardiola's assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye during an ill-tempered Clasico in 2011.
More fireworks were expected when Guardiola became City boss in 2016 and Mourinho was appointed as United manager. However, the truth is the rivalry never truly crackled as City romped to the Premier League title, finishing on 100 points. United did ruin City's planned title celebrations by coming back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium but it was a rare victory in an era of dominance for the Blue half of Manchester.
Getty8Roberto Mancini vs Sir Alex Ferguson
Mancini was City's first high-profile managerial appointment after Sheikh Mansour and he did not take long to rub Ferguson up the wrong way. United saw off City in their first few exchanges but the tide began to turn when the Blues won a 2011 FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, which they followed up by pipping United to the Premier League title in 2012. City's 1-0 win over the Red Devils in April was key to that triumph and Ferguson and Mancini clashed on the sidelines during the game, having to be separated by officials.
When United emphatically reclaimed the title the following season, Mancini accused other teams of not giving their all against Ferguson's side. The Glaswegian, naturally, did not agree, accusing the Italian of talking "absolute nonsense".
Getty 7Jose Mourinho vs Antonio Conte
Conte and Mourinho are often compared due to their reactive approaches to tactics and their volcanic personalities. Yet despite their similarities, they do not get on. The antagonism began when Conte's Chelsea thrashed a Manchester United side coached by Mourinho 4-0 in 2016, and the Portuguese accused his opposite number of "humiliating us" with his exuberant celebrations.
Conte then riled the Special One by saying he did not want his Chelsea side to have 'a Mourinho season' after winning the 2017 Premier League title, referring to how the Blues had capitulated after becoming champions under the Portuguese in 2015. Mourinho responded by saying "I'm not going to lose my hair about Antonio Conte", a not-so-subtle reference to the fact the Italian had a hair transplant.
Mourinho turned up the heat by later talking about Conte's alleged involvement in a match-fixing scandal in Italy, leading to the coach describing him as "a little man".