Why Manchester City vs Liverpool is the Greatest Rivalry in Premier League History

There’s been a lot of discussion in the past few days as to where the Manchester City and Liverpool teams of the Guardiola-Klopp era rank in the all-time great footballing rivalries. As ever, the discussion gets mired in Language Games as we see what individual commenters value in a sporting rivalry. It’s hard to compare this particular rivalry to, say, Birmingham-Aston Villa, because the two are entertaining for different reasons.

I think everyone can agree that there are different kinds of rivalries. Some have historical, sociopolitical, or geographic significance (think: Rangers-Celtic, Sunderland-Newcastle, etc). Some are more contextual, springing into life from a specific incident, personal enmity, or controversy (think: Chelsea-Liverpool, Stoke-Arsenal, etc). Others still are the products of simply competing for the same trophies at the same time. I think the Manchester City-Liverpool rivalry falls into the latter category more than any other. These are two teams that have come into their prime at exactly the same time, each of whom- were it not for the existence of the other- could undoubtedly claim the mantle of the greatest Premier League dynasty ever. And I don’t say that lightly.

In this sense, their rivalry reminds me a lot of that between the Cleveland Cavaliers and…