The Premier League ‘big six’ head-to-head table of 2024-25 so far
Chelsea remain winless in their matches against ‘big six’ opposition in 2024-25, while Arsenal remain unbeaten in the big games against their likeliest title rivals so far this season.
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.
A 2-2 draw with Liverpool at home will sting given the points they’d dropped in the build-up to the game, but considering they started without the suspended William Saliba and then lost both Gabriel and Timber to injuries in the second half, a draw isn’t the worst result.
However, they once again let a lead slip away to Chelsea. A 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge isn’t a bad result in isolation, but it leaves them nine points behind league leaders Liverpool at this early stage of the campaign.
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.
However, City have recently lost back-to-back Premier League outings against Bournemouth and Brighton – and four games in a row in all competitions for the first time in Pep Guardiola’s career – which could be read as a bad omen for their upcoming tough tests against Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United.
Chelsea have shown positive signs of progress under new coach Maresca, but they lost their opening fixture at home to Manchester City and have since gone away and lost 2-1 away to Liverpool.
A 1-1 draw with Manchester United was their first point against a Big Six rival – a stat that also applied to United after their heavy home defeats at Liverpool and Tottenham.
Liverpool have also now played against three of their fellow ‘big six’ sides so far under new boss 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.
The win over Chelsea was a little less convincing, but the three points were still arguably well-deserved when you look at the balance of play and chances.
It took Arsenal losing two of their best defenders to injury for them to get back in the game, but a point away at the Emirates is hardly a poor result and maintains an unbeaten start in those big games.
Tottenham repeated Liverpool’s trick at Old Trafford, also piling the pressure on Ten Hag by coming away 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.
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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: 3
Won: 2
Drawn: 1
Lost: 0
Goals for: 7
Goals against: 3
Goal difference: +4
Points: 7
Points per game: 2.33
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: 4
Won: 1
Drawn: 3
Lost: 0
Goals for: 6
Goals against: 5
Goal difference: +2
Points: 6
Points per game: 1.5
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: 4
Won: 0
Drawn: 2
Lost: 2
Goals for: 3
Goals against: 6
Goal difference: -3
Points: 2
Points per game: 0.5
6. Manchester United
Played: 3
Won: 0
Drawn: 1
Lost: 2
Goals for: 1
Goals against: 7
Goal difference: -6
Points: 1
Points per game: 0.3