THE KEY TO PEP GUARDIOLA'S HISTORIC PREMIER LEAGUE DOMINATION
A big reason for Pep Guardiola’s domestic success as Manchester City manager could be down to the fact that his teams rarely fall behind at the start of matches in the Premier League, research from BetMGM has found.
Since taking over in July 2016 Guardiola has managed 304 games as Manchester City manager and, impressively, his team have only been behind in 21 (6.9%) of those after 15 minutes.
That figure is the lowest percentage of any of the Premier League’s great managers, with Arsene Wenger (8.7%), Sir Alex Ferguson (9.4%), Jose Mourinho (10.5%), Antonio Conte (10.6%) and Jurgen Klopp (13.5%) all losing more of their matches in England’s top flight after that time period.
Klopp’s Reds love leaving it late
While Manchester City and Guardiola dominate the opening proceedings in the Premier League, it’s Klopp’s Liverpool who loved ‘leaving it late.’
Once again BetMGM crunched the numbers and, of the same set of six Premier League managerial icons, it was Klopp whose side fared best in the final 15 minutes of matches.
The German impressively won 121 (36.2%) of 334 matches in the last 15 minutes as Reds manager, with Ferguson, notoriously known for late goals in so-called ‘Fergie Time’, next best with 32.8%.
Wenger’s Arsenal side won 32.1% of matches in the last 15 minutes while Guardiola at Manchester City came in with 31.9%.
Interestingly, both Conte (27.3%) and Mourinho (26.4%) were the managers whose sides were least potent in the closing stages of Premier League matches.
UK Director at BetMGM, Sam Behar, said: “Manchester City and Liverpool have, by and large, been at the top of the Premier League for the past decade and it looks like their successes have been due to their ability to win matches at the start and end of matches.
“For City, a clear gameplan seems to be to not go behind early on with the Citizens losing just 6.9% of matches under Guardiola in the Premier League in the first 15 minutes.
“For Klopp, it’s very different as his Liverpool side loved leaving it late and, in fact, won a staggering 36.2% of games in the last 15 minutes. Maybe they should have called it ‘Klopp time’!”