Pep Guardiola will overtake rival Jose Mourinho as the manager to reach 100 Premier League wins in the fewest games if he leads Manchester City to victory at Wolves tonight… but who else makes the top 10?
- Pep Guardiola can set a record for 100 managerial Premier League wins tonight
- The Man City boss takes his side to Wolves on 99 wins from 132 top-flight games
- Guardiola has nine games to beat Jose Mourinho’s record as the quickest to 100
- Kevin Keegan is set to drop out of the top 10 on a list that includes Jurgen Klopp
Pep Guardiola can join an illustrious list of Premier League greats and usurp Jose Mourinho by guiding reigning champions Manchester City to their 100th league victory of his tenure at Wolves tonight.
The Spaniard will comfortably surpass Mourinho as the coach to have accumulated 100 top-flight wins in the shortest amount of time should City collect three points from their tricky trip to Molineux.
Even if City are denied for a third time in four Premier League visits to Wolves, their masterful manager will have another eight matches in which to break Tottenham tactician Mourinho’s remarkable record of 100 wins from 142 matches.
Pep Guardiola seems certain to become the fastest manager to earn Premier League 100 wins
Guardiola’s first Premier League win was in charge of City against Sunderland in August 2016
Rival Jurgen Klopp collected his 100th win when Liverpool thumped Everton earlier this month
City are at home to Sheffield United and Everton between now and New Year’s Day, meaning only an unlikely barren run will prevent the former Barcelona boss from achieving the feat within the next six days.
A win at the first time of asking would make Guardiola a centurion after just 133 matches – 26 games quicker than his nearest managerial rival at the top of the table.
Jurgen Klopp’s 100th win in charge of Liverpool arrived in emphatic style with a 5-2 mauling of Everton in the Merseyside derby on December 4, making the German the current second-quickest in history to reach the total.
Klopp’s pace of victories is impressive given the period of transition he oversaw after being appointed in 2015, although the name behind him on the list was known for knocking Liverpool off ‘their perch’, as he put it.
Sir Alex Ferguson (left, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer) took ten years to reach 100 Man United wins
Sir Alex Ferguson was three years from having his royal title affixed to his name when he racked up the landmark total thanks to a Roy Keane goal that decided a game against Leeds at Old Trafford in 1996.
United won the Premier League that season but would be displaced by Arsenal in 1998 under Arsene Wenger’s transformative leadership, three years before the Frenchman picked up his 100th win with a victory at Derby.
The list of ten managers to have reached 100 wins most quickly is replete with rivalries. Claudio Ranieri made the milestone with a win for Leicester in 2016 during what would be his final season at the club, and three coaches took 197 games to reach the total.
Most of Kenny Dalglish’s touchline career took place between 1985 and 1998, but he hit a ton of wins in the modern top flight in his second spell with Liverpool, when they beat Newcastle, with whom 30 of his victories came, in 2011.
| DATE | MANAGER | NUMBER OF GAMES | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 19 2014 | Jose Mourinho | 142 | ||||
| December 4 2019 | Jurgen Klopp | 159 | ||||
| April 17 1996 | Alex Ferguson | 162 | ||||
| April 28 2001 | Arsene Wenger | 179 | ||||
| March 14 2009 | Rafael Benitez | 181 | ||||
| August 27 2016 | Claudio Ranieri | 187 | ||||
| January 7 2004 | Gerard Houllier | 197 | ||||
| May 1 2011 | Kenny Dalglish | 197 | ||||
| March 3 2018 | Mauricio Pochettino | 197 | ||||
| March 14 2004 | Kevin Keegan | 209 |
Dalglish matched the speed of Gerard Houllier, who reached 100 with a 1-0 win at Chelsea in 2004, and Mauricio Pochettino, who did it with a 2-0 win for Spurs at home to Huddersfield in 2018.
Another figure who was a major success as Liverpool manager, Rafael Benitez, made it to the magic number quicker than Houllier and Dalglish but two matches slower than Wenger.
Benitez might have feared he would have to wait a little longer when Cristiano Ronaldo gave Manchester United an early lead against Liverpool at Old Trafford in 2009.
Rafa Benitez joined the 100 club with a 4-1 win over Ferguson’s United at Old Trafford in 2009
The Reds hit back, though, giving Benitez plenty to celebrate with a memorable 4-1 comeback win – and a 4-1 thumping of United also gave the tenth manager on the list his century.
Kevin Keegan saw Robbie Fowler, who has played a part in many of the wins on the list, set his Manchester City side on their way to a comfortable Manchester derby victory at home.
The former England boss had left the club within a year and will be knocked out of the top 10 when Guardiola next leads City to victory.
Liverpool bosses Gerard Houllier (left) and Kenny Dalglish both took 197 games to hit 100 wins
