Pep set to break Mourinho’s record

Should Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City manage to get a win over Newcastle United at St James’ Park in a Premier League match on Tuesday evening, not only will they close the gap between them and league leaders Liverpool to just a point, but Guardiola will also break a Premier League record previously held by former Manchester United and Chelsea boss, Jose Mourinho. A visit to Tyneside will see Guardiola take in his 100th Premier League game at the City helm, and the former Barcelona boss has so far claimed 73 victories in charge of the Blues.

Victory against Rafa Benitez’s side would see Guardiola outrightly own the record for most wins in the first 100 games in charge of a Premier League side, though, he would be level on points made in those first 100 games with Mourinho at 237 points won for their respective clubs. Failure to win would leave Guardiola and Mourinho, however, would see both managers share top spot for most wins in first 100 games with Mourinho edging Guardiola on points won in that period.

Regardless, Guardiola possesses the best win rate by any manager to have taken charge of at least 75 Premier League games, besting the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Manuel Pellegrini and Roberto Mancini. The City boss has won 73.7 per cent of his matches so far, which beats the win rate of 67.1% held by Antonio Conte at Chelsea and the 65.2% of Ferguson. The legendary former Manchester United boss did, however, achieve his win rate across 810 Premier League matches over 21 years.

The Catalan coach is also looking to claim silverware on all three fronts this season as City have made strides in the Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup – and will be aiming to be the first side to win back-to-back Premier League titles since Manchester United in 2008 and 2009. This season for the Citizens has not been as air-tight and domineering as their previous, having already lost three games in total, but that does not mean that they are not still impressive. Man. City and Liverpool seem to be the only two teams providing a real challenge for the title this season, and a win over Newcastle will surely see the race heading down to the wire.

Guardiola began his coaching career with Barcelona B, before replacing Frank Rijkaard at the end of the 2007–08 season, though, another Barcelona manager, Michael Laudrup, would claim in a 2013 autobiography that he was then-president Joan Laporta’s first choice, not Guardiola. The former Spain midfielder would go on to win the treble at the end of his first season as he oversaw one of Barca’s most successful eras in football, becoming the youngest man to coach a Champions League winning team.

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