After its win versus Newcastle on Wednesday, Liverpool is heading toward a 20th top-tier title in England. If and when Liverpool wins the Premier League this season, the Anfield club will tie Manchester United’s record of 20 top-tier titles.
The significance of Liverpool on the verge of tying that domestic record is massive in English football. The Merseyside club had long been the most successful team in England after its incredible run of titles in the 1970s through the 1980s.
Before England’s top tier became the Premier League, Liverpool had won an incredible 18 First Division titles to Manchester United’s seven. Those glory days for the Reds helped Liverpool rise to the top of the perch of English football.
However, it wasn’t to last long.
United’s success in the Premier League era of 13 titles saw the Red Devils rise in the ascendancy. So much so that Sir Alex Ferguson famously said, in 2002, “My greatest challenge is not what’s happening at the moment, my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their f**king perch. And you can print that.”
Since the beginning of the Premier League, Liverpool has only won one Premier League title. And that was in 2019/20 during the COVID epidemic.
The tables have turned for both clubs. Manchester United’s last Premier League title win seems like eons ago. It was in the 2012/13 season, Ferguson’s final season in charge of the Red Devils.
Given the way that Arne Slot has been an immediate success at Liverpool, as well as the strength of its squad, it’s far more likely that the Reds will leapfrog Manchester United’s 20 titles in the next few years. Particularly when you consider the mess that United is currently in. The Old Trafford club has had a second round of massive layoffs. And if the club doesn’t win the Europa League this season, thus eliminating their only way into the UEFA Champions League, more cutbacks are likely as the club continues to fall on hard times.
For anyone who has experienced the rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United, you’ll know how fierce it is.
Among my cousins who live in the United Kingdom, there’s a huge divide between those who support Liverpool and the other half who support Manchester United. No matter how well Manchester City or Arsenal may have done in previous years when they lifted Premier League trophies, Manchester United supporters always view Liverpool as their number one enemy, and vice-versa.
How soon will it be before, this time, Liverpool knocks Manchester United off its perch?
