Pep Guardiola never loses.

On the rare occasions his team gets beaten, it’s not a conventional defeat they suffer but some cerebral disruption caused by Pep “over-thinking”.

Such is the esteem in which the Catalan genius is held.

You hear it so often, you half expect to see Manchester City’s name in the table followed by ‘P.W.D. and over-thinking (OT) instead of ‘L’, before the goals and points tallies.

For all that, though, Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel just might have his number.

The two masterminds meet again on Saturday in an unusually early (7.30pm in Malaysia) blockbuster clash that promises some high-octane chess with very expensive pieces.

Way too early to be called a six-pointer, it is still a chance to make a significant statement – the two nouveau riche super clubs are, after all, the favourites for the English Premier League title.

It’s also a chance to see if there really is anything in the notion that Tuchel has Pep rumbled.

The German has won the last three of their personal head-to-heads – all since he has been at Stamford Bridge.

First came the FA Cup semi-final in which a Hakim Zyech goal was enough to give Chelsea a surprise 1-0 win.

A fortnight later, at the Etihad, City, expecting revenge and to be crowned league champions that day, had much the better of the first half.

But they had to settle for a narrow 1-0 lead with a goal from Raheem Sterling just before the break.

Chelsea were a different proposition after Tuchel tweaked the tactics, but still had Sergio Aguero’s fluffed ‘Panenka’ to thank for not going two behind.

But Zyech and Marco Alonso at the death snatched the points to delay City’s celebrations.

The third game was the Champions League final in Portugal at the end of May with Pep favoured to get his hands on the trophy after a 10-year wait.

By this time City had secured the EPL title and Chelsea a place in next season’s Big Boys’ competition although they had surprisingly lost to Leicester in the FA Cup final.

Yet again, it was the German who came out on top after Pep had got his tactics wrong and his team in a muddle because of them.

But this merely levelled the score at 4-4 in their personal head-to-heads with Pep having had the hex over Tuchel until he arrived at Chelsea.

It was also dubbed a master-pupil relationship although the City boss is just two years older than the 48-year-old.

Indeed, Tuchel was happy to be seen as learning from his senior having started his career at lowly Mainz while Pep was plunged in at the deep end at Barcelona.

The German was cutting his teeth as a coach and following Jurgen Klopp’s footsteps to Borussia Dortmund while Pep was amassing silverware with probably the best club side of all time.

But when Pep ended up in the Bundesliga, the two enjoyed several meals together as Tuchel unashamedly sought to pick the brains of the great man.

But it is now the “pupil” who has the momentum. Tuchel’s time at Chelsea since being parachuted in to replace club legend Frank Lampard has been nothing short of stellar.

Taking over a disparate collection of misfits and kids, he turned them into European champions.

And ominously for their rivals, he did it without Romelu Lukaku.

Now, armed with the £98.5m striker, Chelsea are favourites to claim City’s crown.

They are also slight favourites to win on Saturday, even though the game is at the Etihad.

The home side could be missing up to five key players and, crucially, two are central defenders.

Neither John Stones, who has yet to play a Premier League minute since getting injured with England, nor able deputy Aymeric Laporte, is likely to be fit.

Player of the Year Ruben Dias should be but his probable partner, ex Chelsea defender Nathan Ake, has endured an uncertain start to his City career.

It is why many previews for this game will – not for the first time this season – include the phrase, ‘Lukaku will be licking his lips’.

The Belgian has hit the ground running and could well cause Pep to come up with one of his elaborate tactical tweaks to counter him.

City fans will be hoping not.

Other casualties are Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ilkay Gundogan and Rodri although none of them are serious.

In contrast, Chelsea just about have a clean bill of health.

In midweek, City enjoyed a far more comfortable passage in the Carabao Cup with a 6-1 win over little Wycombe while Chelsea needed penalties to see off Aston Villa.

If little can be gleaned from those games, it’s fair to say that City need the win more than Chelsea, for whom a draw would be a decent result.

The only points the Londoners have dropped so far were with 10 men at Anfield.

So, what is the Tuchel modus operandi that is suddenly proving so successful against his erstwhile mentor?

In short, it is not to be intimidated by him, to be brave in possession and take the game to City when so many lie and wait for the inevitable onslaught.

Perhaps the mentoring sessions worked, not to mention the homework – like Pep, Tuchel is obsessive about detail.

Indeed, their touchline behaviour is not dissimilar with both looking close to combustion at times before cooling down to give eloquent interviews.

They are indeed cut from similar cloth, but Pep is the one more capable of springing a surprise.

On Saturday, he might do so again and let his midfield maestros loose to find cracks in a Chelsea rearguard that has yet to be tested.

Whatever the result, the Tuchel-Guardiola rivalry is here to stay.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.