Jurgen Klopp v Pep Guardiola: Who is the better manager?

Modern football pioneers Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola are at the heart of the Premier League's continuing titanic tussle for title supremacy.

With all eyes on Liverpool v Manchester City on Sunday, we take a look at who is the better all-round manager.

Tactical awareness

There is a difference between tactical competence and tactical awareness.

While both Klopp and Guardiola have left an indelible mark on the game with their philosophies - the German with his gegenpressing system and the Spaniard with his tiki-taka approach - one seems better than the other when it comes to altering their approach in varying situations.

"Formations are just telephone numbers," Guardiola once said, emphasising his unparalleled tactical flexibility.

He switches between systems effortlessly and is a master at changing a player's preferred position.

Javier Mascherano, Javi Martinez and Fernandinho have all been switched from holding roles to centre-backs to great effect under Guardiola, who even converted Philip Lahm from the world's greatest right-back into an accomplished midfield operator.

Edge: Guardiola

Man management

It is not Guardiola's fault he has been lavished with the greatest squads and astronomical budgets but Klopp has also achieved a lot with more moderate resources.

Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane were good but far from brilliant players at their previous clubs yet Klopp gave them the belief that they could spearhead a Champions League-winning side.

Trent Alexander-Arnold owes his rapid rise to Klopp and described his man-management as "perfect".

The German blends a contagious likeability and belief with high expectations and honesty with his players and that makes him arguably the greatest at man management in the modern game.

Edge: Klopp

Trophies

A top manager's fate is ultimately determined by points and trophies.

At Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City, Guardiola has amassed an eye-watering 27 trophies, including two Champions Leagues and eight top-flight titles.

Klopp's successive Bundesliga titles with Borussia Dortmund and European success with the Reds were impressive given the squads he had to work with but as far as raw numbers go, this is a landslide win for Pep.

Edge: Guardiola

Mind games

Once thought of as football's dirty little secret, mind games are now a crucial part of any top manager's arsenal.

The psychological battle between Klopp and Guardiola is underpinned by humour and a genuine respect for one another.

But Guardiola's press conferences have been under the spotlight a lot longer than Klopp's and the Barcelona legend went toe-to-toe with one of the greatest mind-game maestros Jose Mourinho during his time in Spain.

A manager does not win tight title battles as frequently as Guardiola without this ability and his recent digs about Sadio Mane diving are just another example of his desire to get in the heads of opposing managers and players.

Edge: Guardiola

Head-to-head

Guardiola comes out on top, having established a 3-1 lead, but Klopp pulls one back when it comes to their head-to-head record.

The former Dortmund boss has won eight of their 17 battles compared to Guardiola's seven.

On that basis he has to edge this category but it is worth noting two of his successes came in German Super Cups at the start of a season and he lost 2-1 in arguably their most important meeting in January which could be considered a title-decider.

Edge: Klopp