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Top 6 Rivalries in English Football

The English Premier League comes with tons of jeering, excitement, and anticipation from crowds in the stands and football enthusiasts globally. With fans from across the world taking the rave to the next level and football teams preparing like it’s a gladiator’s duel, one of the best things you’d want to do is to witness the mind-blowing games.

It helps football fans to properly anticipate the best clubs to wager on when considering the sports betting UK industry. However, one thing is popular among sports teams, especially football, which is rivalries among teams.

These derbies take place between football clubs and stir controversies, rivalries, and competitions among club supporters, some of which might be family members, friends, or acquaintances. For that moment, all relationships are put on hold as they go head-to-head against each other for the bragging rights of being the best team or supporters of the winning side.

In this article, we’ve outlined the top 6 rivalries in English football you might want to know about. On we go.

What Is A Football Rivalry?

A rivalry, also known as a derby sometimes, is a competition between two football teams. It can either focus on a specific match between two teams or as a natural feud. Notably, football has provided many club derbies throughout its history, with diverse players and managers transitioning through. 

Whatever the outcomes of these matches, one thing remains — the legacy of each team is handed over from one generation to the other —together with the feuds. Usually, aside from victory over each other, derbies give football club players and fans bragging rights and prestige.

What Are The Top 6 Rivalries In English Football?

Following are the top six rivalries in English football:

6. Newcastle vs. Sunderland

While bragging rights is the main reason clubs become rivals, it’s worth stating that some might have evolved out of personal reasons. For instance, Newcastle United and Sunderland FC have been in a savage feud since before the Civil War, when King Charles I decided to award the Eastern part of the Coal Trade Rights to merchants from Newcastle. 

This turned the tides against their Sunderland rivals, resulting in the two cities choosing opposite sides in the Civil war. Since that war decades ago, the two cities almost became sworn enemies on the field. Now we understand why both clubs are proactive against each other in the EPL.

5. Manchester United vs. Chelsea FC

Some of the most renowned English Premier League and Champions League rivalries in recent years have been between Chelsea FC and Manchester United. These rivalries have been spearheaded by superstars such as Drogba going head-to-head against Vidic, Cole against Ronaldo, and Lampard against Scholes.

The liveliest contests between these two teams occurred between 2005 and 2011. During this period, the championship title swayed between Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge. Amazingly, this was the peak era for Manchester United and Chelsea in their dogged contentions against each other.

Furthermore, it was during this period (2005-2011) that the managers of both teams – Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson, were at the peak of their coaching prowess. They served the fans with many amazing battles.

4. Manchester City vs. Liverpool

Ever since 2018 till now, Liverpool FC and Manchester City have been strong rivals to each other. Usually, they both contest for the EPL title, with their games featuring amazing tactics. Both teams have been known to hold positions among the top 3 spots in the EPL table since 2018.

Manchester City and Liverpool are graced with sets of agile and most dreaded players, including Aguero, De Bruyne, Sadio Mane, Salah, and two of the best coaches in the English Premier League — Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp. These two men are gifted with raw coaching ingenuity and uniqueness.

3. The North London Derby

Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal FC are two well-known rivals in English football. Thanks to constant animosity, hard tackles, amazing goals, feisty fights, red cards, among other things, theirs is a match worth anticipating.

The two teams are just four miles apart, and this derby has been around since their first match in 1913, when Arsenal relocated to Highbury, North London, a location close to Tottenham.

The rivalry, which has lasted more than a century, has become even more interesting in recent years, with the results unpredictable more than ever.

2. Manchester United vs. Manchester City

Every fan of the English football league understands the significance of the Manchester derby, a strong feud between Manchester United and their neighbors, Manchester City.

For decades, Manchester United dominated English football while their rivals battled with relegation and oblivion. Despite this stark contrast in fortunes, the games were still fiercely contested. However, things would change soon for the Blue side of the city after the Abu Dhabi billionaires acquired the Cityzens.

City gradually became the more dominant side, winning more of the games against their once dominant neighbors. The top of the pick will be their dramatic last-minute title win in 2012, which condemned their rivals to a heart-wrenching loss at the end of a grueling season. Since then, the rivalry has continued to serve more intrigues and thrills to the delight of the fans.

1. Manchester United vs. Liverpool FC

Ladies and gentlemen, Liverpool FC vs. Manchester United is the greatest English rivalry of all time. Cumulatively, both teams have played each other 209 times, with Liverpool bagging 70 victories and Manchester United claiming 81. Furthermore, the two clubs are famous and regularly dominate the English league.

Sir Alex Ferguson is the manager with the highest wins in this fixture. He also engineered the Red Devils to overtake the total number of league titles won by their rivals before he retired.

The Liverpool-Manchester United rivalry will always be one to look forward to at any point in the English football season regardless of the forms of each team. Fans usually can’t get enough of it, and sincerely, we can’t too.

Conclusion

Soccer fans are aware of the glaring rivalry between English clubs. These rivalries bring in a lot of excitement, intrigues, and even animosity between teams, and fans also partake in the battles. 

Surprisingly, some fans take the dissing beyond football borders, but we believe that shouldn’t be the case.

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