Guardiola must be on guard to overcome his nemesis Klopp

Jurgen Klopp has a better record against Pep Guardiola than any other manager who has taken him on 10 or more times.

Manchester City's Pep Guardiola, left, and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

Pep Guardiola faces one of the most critical matches of his Manchester City career on Friday morning and it is safe to say the last person he wants to come up against is Jurgen Klopp.

For someone who has won 26 trophies in nine years and is regarded as one of the best coaches in the world, it is remarkable that one man has managed to thwart Guardiola so many times.

Klopp has a better record against Guardiola than any other manager who has taken him on 10 or more times.

In the 15 encounters between the two managers, Klopp has won eight, Guardiola five, and there have been two draws.

Guardiola averages only 1.13 points per game against Klopp.

The second most successful manager to pit his wits against Guardiola is Jose Mourinho, against whom the City manager took 1.77 points per game.

Guardiola’s teams have always finished above Klopp’s in the Bundesliga and Premier League but more often than not the German has come out on top in individual duels. Klopp’s success against Guardiola is even greater in England, where the City manager has only overcome his old foe once, a 5-0 home win in September 2017.

Why has Guardiola struggled so much against Klopp?

There are tactical and psychological aspects to consider but the most important factor when considering Liverpool’s dominance over City in the past two and a half years is simple: Klopp’s attacking players have been far more clinical in front of goal.

City have had the majority of possession in all seven meetings between the two since Guardiola came to England. Only in two games have Liverpool had more shots. Overall, City have scored 10 goals from the 83 shots they have had against Liverpool from the start of the 2016-17 season. The Merseysiders have been far more effective in front of goal, scoring 11 from 62 shots.

City have wasted good chances. Leroy Sane’s miss from 18m when the score was 1-0 to Liverpool in last season’s Champions League quarter-final first leg at Anfield springs to mind, as does Riyad Mahrez’s penalty miss in the 0-0 league draw in October.

Guardiola admitted City’s profligacy concerned him after his team’s 3-1 win away to Southampton on Sunday.

“We missed a lot of chances. It (should have been) 1-6, 1-7. You have to score. I don’t think Liverpool is going to give us this amount of chances,” he said.

Psychologically, Liverpool seem to be the only team that can send Guardiola’s defence into meltdown. Liverpool’s front six press City relentlessly, rather than sit back, which is what the majority of opponents do.

City arrived at Anfield for their Champions League game in April with the best defensive record in the Premier League and they were swatted aside 3-0 because of an approach that Klopp described as “full-throttle”.

The intensity of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane caused defenders such as Nicolas Otamendi and Vincent Kompany to make mistakes they had not made all season.

It was noticeable City learnt their lesson from the open way in which they played at Anfield in the Champions League when they returned for the goalless draw in the league in October.

Their build-up was much more patient. It is a lesson Guardiola learnt in Germany after Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund tore Bayern Munich apart on the counter-attack 4-2 in the German Super Cup in July 2013.

When Munich beat Dortmund 3-0 in the league later that season, Guardiola played Javi Martinez, Toni Kroos and Philipp Lahm in midfield to control the centre before allowing them freedom in the second half as Dortmund tired.

The Times