Manchester United's biggest rivals - City or Liverpool?

The only thing common between affection and animosity between two entities is that both grow stronger with time and proximity of the concerned entities with each other. When those two entities are either Manchester United and Liverpool or Manchester United and Manchester City, the word ‘affection’ goes out of the window. Animosity against each other is what is preached into the heads of the next generation of each set of supporters of the aforementioned clubs. This is how a generation grows up in Manchester and Merseyside. While United and Liverpool are rivaled by their history, City and United, on the other hand, are rivaled in recent years by their proximity at the top of the league table. Needless to say, both are growing stronger with every second elapsed.

So, this gives rise to a question as to who is currently Manchester United’s biggest rival – Liverpool or Man City?

This is a question that has received a mixed response from United supporters ahead of the big match against Liverpool at the weekend - a match that is historically the biggest in the English football calendar, but is no longer considered as relevant as the battles against neighbors Manchester City.

The above question came into prominence in 2008, when a certain Sheikh Mansour landed in the Manchester airport and got his eye on the blue half of Manchester, plucked them up from obscurity and transformed them into genuine trophy contenders from a mere mid-table time, by his huge influx of wealth. A couple of years of grooming and Manchester City’s name was sighted on the higher echelons of English football. The 2011 FA cup victory at the expense of Manchester United (in semis) brought down a long standing banner at Stretford End meant to taunt City fans and then last season’s dramatic Premier League triumph by City requires no reminding to any United fan.

Various other factors like the touchline feuds between the managers, the highly controversial transfer of former United player Carlos Tevez to City, Michael Owen’s injury time winner at Old Trafford in 2011, the recent coin throw at Rio Ferdinand after United’s win at Etihad and several other occasions of unsavory behavior among both sets of fans, players and staff is what that has fueled this rivalry even more.

This duel has, therefore, taken precedence over any other in recent past. The fixture has become more than just a match, where there is much more at stake than just 3 points. The local bragging rights and the long staying feeling of satisfaction of victory over your fiercest rival is what the fans demand more. The match becomes the subject of every newspaper column, every television report and every radio program. The whole week before and after the match is a frenzy for the media. Therefore, there can be no one denying the fact that the match between United and City at Old Trafford scheduled in April will be the biggest and most awaited match of the season, given the fact that the two currently seem to be fighting for the biggest honor in English football.

But, having said that, the match at the weekend against Liverpool has its own decorated pedestal in the football calendar. It is always emotional, passionate and bitter when these two clubs meet, so much so that the fixture is usually played at midday due to huge media interest and to discourage fans from drinking before the game. So, what is the rivalry all about?

Primarily, it is all about the football history, and these two clubs have written their name indelibly into the annals of the English game. Between them, they have won 119 honors; 60 for Manchester United and 59 for Liverpool. United were successful in the 50?s and 60?s during the Busby Babes’ era, who were tragically killed in an air crash, and yet they managed to win the first European Cup for an English club few years later. Liverpool then rose to the occasion and took over in 70?s and 80?s, when they won 4 European titles and a plethora of domestic honors. But, Manchester United turned the tables again and they have now been dominating the English football since 90?s. Such is the determination of domestic dominance, that United’s 2010-2011 title triumph is widely recognized for overhauling Liverpool’s record of 18 Premier League titles.

But before football, there’s another deep element to the Manchester-Liverpool rivalry, the roots of which go back to the Industrial Revolution, when the building of the Manchester ship canal that bypassed Liverpool docks led to lower dues for Liverpool’s merchants and consequently resulted in resentment from the people of Liverpool. So, the industrial heritage, coupled with the football history, has added to the decades of bickering between the players, the supporters, the managers and, sometimes, the directors as well.

However, the recent matters on the pitch have diluted this great north-west rivalry with Liverpool not winning the league title since 1990 and still looking far away from doing so. This coupled with recent exploits of City has made the fans and players look up to Manchester City as a more fierce adversary. Agreed by the legendary Paul Scholes who recently put his views on the subject by quoting-

“Whether City have overtaken Liverpool now, I don’t know… it’ll probably take years for them to create what Liverpool have done,” . “Liverpool historically are our biggest rivals, they’re always the biggest games and the best atmospheres. But I’m sure City will run them close.”

Therefore, the answer lies in the viewpoint. In terms of short term supremacy, Manchester City are undoubtedly United’s biggest rivals as of now. But, if you look at history, emotions, passions and bragging rights; then Liverpool wins that battle hands down.