Manchester City's Guardiola agrees with Leeds United boss Sam Allardyce's claim - and also hails Neil Warnock

Newly-appointed Leeds head coach Allardyce wrote headlines yesterday (May 3) when he claimed he was “up there” with Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta when it came to football knowledge and depth of knowledge.

Guardiola, who has led Manchester City to the Premier League summit, will be the first head coach to do battle with an Allardyce-led Leeds when the two sides face off on Saturday (May 6). He has backed Allardyce’s claim and referenced Warnock’s Huddersfield heroics in his agreement with ‘Big Sam’.

He said: “He [Allardyce] is right. I want to be honest. Look what happened with Neil Warnock in Huddersfield. There’s a tendency for these incredible managers, they have [left] this Premier League or this competition in better position. They are really good. They help us to be what we are. Look at Roy Hodgson for Crystal Palace, what they have done.

"They are really good, having crowd experience, they know the game perfectly. If he [Allardyce] feels that, it’s because he is. It will be tough because he has the charisma, he will put out the pressure to the players and he knows exactly what to do in this kind of situation, in a relegation battle. You don’t have to be young to be a good manager.”

Warnock has rejuvenated Huddersfield since arriving and Championship safety is now a possibility for the Terriers. Leeds supporters will hoping Allardyce has a similarly transformative impact with the Whites currently living precariously in the top flight.