Ask any fan of a team who plays in one of football’s big derbies and they’ll fervently defend their beloved club; with feelings so partisan and stakes so high it often seems impossible to distinguish between the likes of Rangers and Celtic, Arsenal and Tottenham, Liverpool and Everton, or Manchester City and Manchester United.
HotelClub, who help football fans see their favourite teams by finding them accommodation in and around Britain’s big cities (from hotels in Belfast, including the Culloden hotel in Belfast, for the Glentoran vs. Linfield derby, to London hotels for the North London derby and accommodation in Liverpool for the Merseyside derby) have detailed the last 20 years of fixtures between Britain’s top clubs, making it easy to see who’s actually the best.
Arsenal vs. Tottenham
Easy. Has to be Arsenal right? They’ve won the double twice, they won the League without losing a game.
And Tottenham? Over the last twenty games: Arsenal has won eight games to Spurs’s four, scoring 43 goals to 34.
Result: Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham. Despite the seeming dominance of Wenger’s men, their lack of a consecutive win record stops this being a thrashing. Celtic vs. Rangers
It doesn’t get much bigger than the Old Firm Derby, played between Glasgow and Scotland’s two big teams. Fiercely partisan, these ties are the highlight of Scottish football’s sporting calendar – and is one of the most important and iconic football derbies in the world.
Winners: Celtic 3-3 Rangers. Everton vs. Liverpool
Until the end of last season Liverpool was the most successful team in the English league, winning 18 titles. The Everton team that won two league titles in three years, in 1985 and 1987, was a classic: but Everton have done little since. While the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup came under Gerard Houllier, it wasn’t until 2005, when Liverpool won their 5th European Cup, that the good times really seemed to be back at Anfield.
Winners: Everton 1-4 Liverpool.
