Leicester City play key role in Man City-Liverpool rivalry and can spoil Klopp title dream again

Every great team needs a rival: an opposing force that pushes each side to the very limit of their capabilities. This is true of any sport but with football, all of the greatest sides, both domestically and abroad, have achieved greatness in part due to having a competitor who was constantly nipping at their heels.

In 1990s English football, Man Utd were pushed by first Blackburn and then Arsenal, with the latter forming one of the all-time great rivalries with United towards the end of the decade and into the next.

The great Barcelona side under Pep Guardiola were pushed to breaking point by Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid at the beginning of the 2010s, with El Clasico games almost turning into something resembling a civil war than a game of football.

And in the modern era of the Premier League, Man City and Liverpool have proved brilliant sparring partners over the last half-decade, both inspired by the genius of each club’s respective managers.

It’s fair to say that both clubs wouldn’t have reached the pinnacle of the English game, and in such style, without Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp. Both are considered the pre-eminent coaches of the modern era, who have produced a string of Guardiola and Klopp imitators up and down the football pyramid.

Often imitated - but never duplicated.

City and Liverpool have pushed one another to a higher plane and one wonders how different the Premier League landscape would be if only one of Klopp or Guardiola had arrived.

When the history of the league is written on this period, it’ll always be recognised as their era.

While both sides have set the bar for excellence over the last five years, their rivalry has been punctuated by cameo appearances from Leicester.

In the 2018/19 title-winning