The 9 Biggest Premier League Rivalries
With superb title races, fierce relegation battles, and several teams on the hunt for European qualification each campaign, the Premier League always throws up a number of high-intensity clashes over the course of a season, marked out by physical tussles, off-the-ball action, and noisy, raucous atmospheres.
Any game can take this course; however, you'll usually find that the most hotly-contested fixtures in the English top flight are the ones that take place between two clubs with a shared sense of conflict and dislike.
The Premier League was created in 1992 as clubs broke away from the old First Division, and since that landmark moment various prestigious rivalries have been strengthened and built on in the English top flight. In this article, we're going to be guiding you through the most significant, as we track the 10 biggest Premier League rivalries of all time.
Derby vs Rivalry: What's The Difference?
Before we dive into the sporting rivalries that have most profoundly shaped England's top flight in the last 30 years, it's worth sketching out the difference between a rivalry and a derby (this is something that can cause confusion amongst football fans).
In football, a rivalry between two clubs can develop for a number of reasons. It may be that two sides hate each other because of a series of contentious or violent games that have taken place in the past.
Alternatively, the movement of key players or managers between two clubs could cause supporters to grow resentful of the other outfit. It may just be that the two major cities in one country (take Swansea and Cardiff in Wales, for example) develop a strong dislike for each other as they battle it out for national supremacy.
However, the most important source for a rivalry is simple: geography. This is what marks out a derby from a rivalry.
Whereas a rivalry in football can stem from many factors, the term 'derby' only refers to rivalries that exist between clubs within the same geographical region.
The clubs in question could be a stone's throw away from each other in the same city, or in the case of rivalries like Nottingham Forest vs Derby or Norwich City vs Ipswich Town, the two teams could be in bordering counties but close enough for it to still count as a derby match.
Pretty much all English football clubs have a local rival that they have faced many times in derby matches over the years, but it's also common for some rivals to go years without playing each other. Often this only strengthens the sense of hatred between the two fanbases, which festers and bubbles before boiling over the surface when the players take to the field...
The 9 Biggest Premier League Rivalries
It's worth noting that this list focuses on the years of the English top flight post-1992; while there were some huge rivalries in the First Division before it, our focus here will be teams that have built up their reputations as arch-rivals in the modern era.
#9. Brighton vs Crystal Palace
This rivalry gets plenty of criticism from those who don't understand it, but when you watch a match between Brighton and Crystal Palace (jokily nicknamed the M23 Derby), the hatred between the two clubs becomes clear.
This rivalry has its roots in a series of lower league matches that took place between the two clubs in the 1970s and 1980s, and the ascendancy of the Eagles and the Seagulls (who chose their nickname in order to annoy their arch-rivals) to the Premier League has fanned the flames and made this a serious modern grudge match.
The fact that three players were sent off in the last PL clash between these two sides is a pretty good indication of how feisty things can get.
#8. Manchester City vs Liverpool
While this isn't a traditional rivalry that dates back decades, the relationship between Manchester City and Liverpool has become increasingly interesting in the last decade, as the two clubs have battled with each other at the summit of the Premier League.
Led by Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp respectively, the two sides have amassed enormous points totals and played some of the greatest football the English top flight has ever seen, in their efforts to outdo each other and get their hands on the PL trophy.
There may not be much animosity felt between supporters, but BBC Sport are right to point out that these two clubs "have produced a rivalry in recent years that has taken the standard of English football to another level."
#7. Manchester United vs Arsenal
This conflict has fizzled out slightly in recent years, but during the peak of Arsene Wenger's powers, he and United boss Sir Alex Ferguson forged an intense rivalry as the two clubs competed for the Premier League title in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
During this period the intensity of serial title races led to these fixtures being dominated by heavy tackles, fights between players, and regular media-baiting from the two managers — Fergie famously mocked his opposite number in 1997, saying "He's at a big club, well Arsenal used to be a big club, and maybe next year he could be in the same situation".
In the Premier League era, it's the Red Devils who edge this tie head-to-head, with 26 wins compared to the Gunners' 21.
#6. Newcastle vs Sunderland
It's been years since Sunderland were in the Premier League, but throughout the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, the Tyne-Wear derby was a regular clash in the English top flight, and it produced some extremely tense and heated moments.
With the two North Eastern cities located just 12 miles away from each other, there's always been animosity between them, dating back all the way to the English Civil War in the 17th century.
This conflict resurfaced during several Premier League relegation battles and mid-table grudge matches between 2007 and 2017, when Sunderland last dropped down from the EPL, and Sunderland vs Newcastle will always be thought of by many English football fans as one of the country's most iconic rivalries.
#5. Aston Villa vs Birmingham City
Aston Villa's superiority in recent years means that these two clubs have played each other very little in the last decade. However, there's no doubt that the Birmingham derby is one of English football's fiercest, and several well-fought matches between the two clubs have taken place in the modern Premier League.
Recent cash injections from Tom Brady and his US ownership consortium allowed Birmingham City to gain promotion back to the Championship in style, and they'll be targeting a return to the Premier League in the near future.
There are certainly scores to be settled with their old rivals; the Blues haven't won the so-called 'Second City Derby' in the Premier League since 2005, with Villa dominating recent clashes.
#4. Manchester United vs Manchester City
First contested in 1881 and with a total of 196 games played between the two sides to date, the Manchester derby is one of English football's oldest rivalries. While it's always been interesting when Manchester's two professional clubs face up against each other, it's in the last 15 years that this rivalry has become seriously intense.
As City have surged to the top of English football thanks to Emirati riches, they've looked to usurp the Red Devils as the city's top club, and with six Premier League titles to their name in the last decade (compared to United's zero) they've certainly turned this rivalry on its head.
That added competitiveness has made the Manchester derby far more important to United fans than it has been historically.
#3. Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur
There are a number of notable derbies between historic London clubs, but Arsenal vs Spurs has produced a mixture of top-quality Premier League drama and intense fan animosity that no other capital rivalry has.
While Arsenal have been far more successful during the Premier League era, Tottenham have often used the North London derby as a leveller, consistently showing up with quality and commitment and remaining unbeaten across eight derbies between 2014 and 2022.
Arteta's Gunners revolution has changed things and the gap between the two clubs today is clear; however, one thing that hasn't changed is the fierce hatred these clubs have for each other.
#2. Everton vs Liverpool
Everton's move to their brand-new Bramley Moore Dock Stadium ends a long period of Liverpool's two major clubs battling it out on the same side of the city, less than a mile away from each other.
And given both clubs' prestigious histories (Everton have won the English top flight on nine occasions, while Liverpool have 19 titles including two in the Premier League era), there have been some marvelous games between the Merseyside clubs over the years.
Once labelled the 'friendly-derby' when Everton and Liverpool were clashing at the top of the First Division in the 1980s, this fixture has since developed into an extremely meaningful one for fans (particularly those of a blue persuasion), and it's often one of the most fiery and intense Premier League games of the campaign.
#1. Manchester United vs Liverpool
Few English fans will argue with the fact that Manchester United vs Liverpool is the country's greatest footballing rivalry. These clubs have consistently battled with each other towards the top of the Premier League, their fortunes ebbing and flowing with the arrival and departure of iconic managers like Sir Alex Ferguson and Jurgen Klopp.
Tackles go flying in, goals are celebrated madly, and drubbings (like Liverpool's incredible 7-0 victory over United in 2023, or United's 4-0 rout in 2003) are felt for longer than any other loss. And a long, grudge-filled history predates the modern era of Liverpool vs United, with the two clubs spending much of the 20th century battling it out for status as England's top club.
Slot's 2024/25 Premier League trophy will represent a joint-record 20th league title for Liverpool, with the Red Devils tied on the same number. Those records underline how these clubs have historically battled against each other.
Check out our guide to soccer derbies for more information about this subject.
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