Top 10 most classic head-to-head coach pairs in Premier League history

 Jurgen Klopp vs Pep Guardiola is one of the most classic coaching pairings in the Premier League era, but they are still not number 1.

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#10 Arsene Wenger vs Sam Allardyce

Big Sam will never be able to match the French “Professor” in terms of titles. But there are certainly many times when Allardyce has surpassed Wenger, who often speaks condescendingly whenever he faces Big Sam's uncompromising teams.

Allardyce's Bolton dealt a big blow to Arsenal in the 2002/03 Premier League title race with a comeback to hold the Gunners to a 2-2 draw. And Allardyce produced another important result against Arsenal when he led Blackburn to a 2-1 win in 2010 that ended the Gunners' title race.

“I enjoyed beating Arsenal more than anyone when I was coaching Bolton. We actually beat them and Arsene Wenger hates us. We drew or beat them more often than expected and Wenger couldn't handle it. One time he didn't shake my hand at Highbury because we were tied. I saw him tear off his tie and throw it onto the field in extreme anger," Allardyce wrote in his autobiography.

#9 Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho

Mourinho and Guardiola once worked together at Barca but became bitter rivals as coaches. They first met each other in the unforgettable Champions League semi-final between Inter and Barca. Their rivalry became even more intense when Mourinho led Real Madrid. The most infamous incident was when the Portuguese coach poked Guardiola's assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye during a fiery El Clasico match in 2011.

Heated clashes are expected when Pep became Man City coach in 2016 and Mourinho was appointed to lead MU the same year. However, the truth is that the rivalry never really broke out as Pep's Citizens cruised to the Premier League title with 100 points. MU ruined Man City's planned title celebration when they came back to win 3-2 at Etihad Stadium (despite being 2 goals ahead). But it was a rare victory in the era of dominance of the blue half of Manchester.

#8 Roberto Mancini vs Sir Alex Ferguson

Mancini was appointed as the first coach of Man City under Sheikh Mansour and it did not take him long to criticize the war with Ser Alex. MU defeated Man City in the first few matches.

But the situation began to change when The Citizens won the 2011 FA Cup semi-final at Wembley and went straight to the Premier League championship in the 2011/12 season. The Red Devils were the key to that crown, losing 0-1 at the Etihad in a match where Ferguson and Mancini clashed on the sidelines, forcing the referees to intervene.

When MU won the 2012/13 Premier League, Mancini accused other teams of not giving their all against Ferguson's team. The legendary Scottish coach naturally disagreed, accusing his colleagues of talking nonsense and saying "complete nonsense".

#7 Jose Mourinho vs Antonio Conte

Conte and Mourinho are often compared due to their tactical approaches and hot-tempered personalities. However, despite their similarities, they do not “get along.” The antagonism began when Conte's Chelsea defeated Mourinho's MU with a score of 4-0 in 2016. At that time, the Special One accused his opponent of "humiliating us" with excessive celebrations!

Conte then angered the Portuguese strategist by saying he did not want his Blues to have “a Mourinho season” after winning the Premier League title in 2017. That hinted at how pragmatic Chelsea was. when he became champion under Mourinho in the 2014/15 season.

Mourinho responded by sarcastically saying "I will not lose my hair because of Antonio Conte" as a not-so-subtle reference to the fact that the Italian military leader had a hair transplant.

#6 Sir Alex Ferguson vs Kevin Keegan

This is the first pair of "unjustified" coaches of the Premier League era. MU is determined to regain the crown after Blackburn won the throne in the 1994/95 season. While Keegan's Newcastle are on their way to winning their first league title in 69 years. Magpies led the championship race with 12 points but were overtaken by the Manchester Red Devils in the final rounds of the season.

And Ferguson "throws a bomb" at Keegan, claiming that some opponents are playing easily against Newcastle. After a hard-fought victory over Leeds, Keegan responded. “You can tell him, we are still fighting for the championship and he has to go to Middlesbrough and win something,” Keegan quipped. However, Sir Fergie emerged victorious and claimed his third title. Keegan left Newcastle the following year, although competition increased again when he took over at City in 2001.

#5 Sir Alex Ferguson vs Rafa Benitez

Benitez and Ferguson rarely met each other, but the disagreement between the pair reached its peak when Liverpool seriously competed with MU in the 2008/09 Premier League championship race. Benitez claimed that Ferguson spent too much time talking about the referee and trying to influence the decisions of the black kings.

That led to an unforgettable press conference, when Benitez presented some "facts" to illustrate how Sir Alex's United benefited from favorable refereeing decisions. These criticisms were immediately compared to Ferguson's sarcastic statements against Keegan's Newcastle. The result was the same as with Keegan, MU surpassed Liverpool in the title race.

#4 Jose Mourinho vs Rafa Benitez

Mourinho and Benitez began a war of words in 2005 over a controversial decision by the linesman in the Champions League semi-final between Liverpool and Chelsea, with Mourinho refusing to accept his team's elimination.

The pair continued to fight each other in both the Premier League and Champions League and it quickly became a personal story. “If she cares about her husband's diet, she won't have time to talk about me,” Mourinho said of Benitez's wife, after the Spanish military leader said he was called upon to “ clean up Mourinho's mess" at previous clubs.

#3 Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger

Wenger led Arsenal to the Premier League title in a historic unbeaten season in 2003/04. But soon someone will steal his crown, someone flashier, louder and representing everything the French coach doesn't like.

Wenger could not object to Chelsea signing any player they wanted and Arsenal quickly became a victim of the Blues' wealth when Ashley Cole left the Gunners for Stamford Bridge. Mourinho enjoyed teasing Wenger, calling him a "specialist in failure" during his second spell at Chelsea in 2014.

#2 Jurgen Klopp vs Pep Guardiola

When he heard that Klopp would join Liverpool at the end of this season, Pep's first thought was that he would have a better night's sleep. Because Pep admitted that in the past when he had to confront his "old enemy", every night was a nightmare for him. This will be the 30th time Klopp and Pep clash on the coaching bench. In the previous 29 times, Klopp won 12, Pep won 11 and the two sides drew 6 times.

Both Klopp and Pep have won the four major titles an English team can win: Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup. We have taken this for granted and in the modern era, it is certainly easier than ever for big teams to win many tournaments.

However, no other pair of coaches has won all four titles in one team. Bob Paisley and Brian Clough, for example, won the European Cup but never the FA Cup, while Arsene Wenger missed out on the Champions League (and League Cup). There is only one other legendary coach who has won all four titles mentioned above at an English team. That's Sir Alex Ferfuson. Therefore, Klopp vs Guardiola is the only coaching pair that is successful in this regard.

#1 Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger

Guardiola and Klopp's team may play more exciting football and collect more points than any other team in the Premier League, but when it comes to tension and mutual hatred, no rival can compare. Comparable to Ferguson and Wenger.

Ferguson immediately disliked Wenger when the “French Professor” arrived in England in 1996 and was admired for his new ideas on nutrition and tactics. And Sir Alex's sense of contempt increased when Arsenal dethroned MU and won the 1997/98 Premier League title.

The Red Devils avenged that defeat by winning the treble in 1999 and defeating Arsenal in a classic FA Cup semi-final replay the same year. But the Gunners enjoyed an iconic victory when they won the competition in the 2001/02 season after beating Chelsea at Old Trafford.

The war between Ferguson and Wenger reached a climax in 2004 when Cesc Fabregas humorously threw a slice of pizza at the Scottish manager in an event known as the Battle of the Buffet. It was MU who ended Arsenal's 49-match unbeaten streak in a controversial match with Ruud van Nistelrooy's only goal from the penalty spot.