The Premier League ‘big six’ head-to-head table of 2024-25 so far: Man Utd dismal again…
Manchester United have endured a nightmare start to the 2024-25 campaign in terms of their results against their fellow ‘big six’ opposition, leading to serious questions over Erik ten Hag’s future at Old Trafford.
The games between the Premier League’s top sides often have a major bearing on who ends up winning the title, and who ends up qualifying for Europe. So who have done best out of Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham in their direct head-to-head clashes in 2024-25 so far?
Arsenal actually boasted the best record in ‘big six’ clashes last season, despite squandering the title, having gone unbeaten in their Premier League bouts with title rivals Manchester City and Liverpool, while also taking a healthy tally of points home from Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners have once again shown their mettle by going away to Tottenham and grinding out a hard-fought 1-0 victory in the first North London Derby of the season before almost repeating the trick against Manchester City, leading 2-1 with 10 men until the dying seconds.
Manchester City have also taken four points from their two headline ‘big six’ outings so far this season, having kicked off 2024-25 with an impressively routine 2-0 away to Chelsea before the aforementioned 2-2 comeback draw against Arsenal.
Chelsea have shown really positive signs of progress under new coach Enzo Maresca, but they lost their opening fixture to Manchester City and are yet to face the really tough tests of facing any other ‘big six’ sides – it will be fascinating to see how they fare against the other sides challenging for Champions League qualification.
Liverpool have also only played against one of their fellow ‘big six’ sides so far under new boss Arne Slot, but he passed the test with flying colours by going to Old Trafford and masterminding an impressively comprehensive 3-0 victory over Manchester United.
Tottenham repeated Liverpool’s trick, also piling the pressure on Ten Hag by coming away from Old Trafford with an impressive 3-0 win – their fourth successive victory in all competitions and an impressive turnaround following their underwhelmingly limp defeat in the North London derby.
Results against their fellow ‘big six’ sides was an area that the Red Devils were desperately lacking under Erik ten Hag last season, having registered the worst record in last season’s ‘big six’ min-table with just one win out of 10. Things don’t appear to be picking up, having kicked off 2024-25 with two 3-0 home defeats.
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Here’s how the mini-table breaks down in full. We’ve ranked them in order of points per game from the ‘big six’ outings so far, with goal difference used if they’re level. We’ll be keeping this one updated throughout the season so make sure you check back.
1. Liverpool
Played: 1
Won: 1
Drawn: 0
Lost: 0
Goals for: 3
Goals against: 0
Goal difference: +3
Points: 3
Points per game: 3.00
2. Manchester City
Played: 2
Won: 1
Drawn: 1
Lost: 0
Goals for: 4
Goals against: 2
Goal difference: +2
Points: 4
Points per game: 2.00
3. Arsenal
Played: 2
Won: 1
Drawn: 1
Lost: 0
Goals for: 3
Goals against: 2
Goal difference: +1
Points: 4
Points per game: 2.00
4. Tottenham
Played: 2
Won: 1
Drawn: 0
Lost: 1
Goals for: 3
Goals against: 1
Goal difference: +2
Points: 3
Points per game: 1.5
5. Chelsea
Played: 1
Won: 0
Drawn: 0
Lost: 1
Goals for: 0
Goals against: 2
Goal difference: -2
Points: 0
Points per game: 0.00
6. Manchester United
Played: 2
Won: 0
Drawn: 0
Lost: 2
Goals for: 0
Goals against: 6
Goal difference: -6
Points: 0
Points per game: 0.00