As Liverpool prepare to draw level with Manchester United on 20 top-flight titles, the debate reignites, which clubs truly has the superior honour
With Liverpool on the brink of winning the Premier League, we explore how Liverpool and Manchester United differ in how they count the trophies they have won throughout their histories.
Liverpool are set to draw level with Manchester United’s record of 20 top-flight titles if they secure the Premier League this season but who really boasts the bigger honours list
Sir Alex Ferguson famously said his greatest challenge at Manchester United was “knocking Liverpool off their perch” after their dominance in the 1980s — a mission he completed by the time he retired, having led United to their record 20th top-flight title.
That put them two ahead of the Reds in 2013, but after Jurgen Klopp helped lift the Premier League hoodoo around Anfield seven years later, Arne Slot is now on the verge of drawing Liverpool back level with their old rivals with a 20th league title of their own.
That will be sealed on today Sunday if Liverpool pick up at least a point against Tottenham
Both Liverpool and Man Utd have long boasted the largest trophy collections in English football. But what about their wider honours board – and who can claim to be the most successful?
Liverpool set to draw level with Man Utd — or have they already overtaken them?
Currently, Manchester United claim 68 major trophies in their history — according to their own honours list — putting them one ahead of Liverpool, who sit on 67 and are set to draw level once their second Premier League title is confirmed. However, a major discrepancy arises with the inclusion of the Community Shield, and the picture changes significantly if that competition is excluded.
There are views in either camp as to whether it counts as a major trophy; on their physical honours board at Liverpool’s old training ground at Melwood, it was never included alongside their other tournament victories.
And if that is the case, then Liverpool are already four clear of Man Utd – with 51 trophies compared to their 47.
Why Man Utd think they could still retain their lead this season.
Even with Liverpool’s Premier League triumph an almost inevitability there is still time for Man Utd to wrestle back their mantle as England’s leading trophy-winner by the end of the season, including Community Shields.
After Man Utd reached the last four of this season’s Europa League by the skin of their teeth against Lyon last week, they could yet add a 69th trophy to their collection by the end of this campaign.
When the Premier League began in 1992 Liverpool were 18 trophies ahead of their rivals, but thanks to Man Utd’s unprecedented success under Ferguson, a Premier League and Community Shield double in 2010/11 was enough to put them ahead for the first time since the early 1970s.
They have led the way almost ever since, though four trophies in the final three seasons of the Klopp era briefly drew Liverpool level after their Carabao Cup triumph last February.
Man Utd quickly hit back to re-establish their lead by winning the FA Cup against Man City in May – a feat they could repeat in Bilbao next month.
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