Friday 17 April 2020 10:03, UK
Ahead of Manchester United's firecracker clash with Arsenal, we investigate the clubs' punching power on social media.
Man United's social media engagement is bigger than any other team or celebrity and on par with a religion, sporting director Richard Arnold claimed this month.
Indeed, United top the Premier League with 95.2m followers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, followed by Chelsea (62.1m) and Arsenal (53.9m).
However, Spanish giants Barcelona (155.4m) and Real Madrid (153.8m) surpass the English clubs across the three social platforms, according to sports index provider Brandtix.
The clubs' global popularity is also reflected on Google internet searches, with United once again reigning supreme over their London rivals.
Since 2004, Arsenal have only ever overtaken Man United in search popularity on four occasions: towards the end of 2005/06 season, in February 2011/12, August 2011 and August 2013.
Over the last 12 months, Manchester United have been more popular in the majority of countries around the world on Google, conquering Arsenal in 194 out of 218 countries.
Man United and Arsenal are also the two biggest English teams on Twitter, with United leading the way on 9.3m followers compared to Arsenal's 8.5m.
The Gunners have a stronger presence in the Americas, while United have a larger fan base in Asia.
Four of last season's top 10 tweeted moments came from Arsenal and Man United clashes, with the Gunners winning 3-0 at the Emirates and United claiming a 3-2 victory at Old Trafford.
Outside of the games involving Leicester's fairytale journey, Arsenal's 3-0 win over United was the most-talked about match of the season globally with more than 1.7 million Tweets.
Brandtix CEO Jon Rosenblatt, said: "Both Manchester United and Arsenal are global brands in their own right, and via their own social channels, together with the players' social pages, the reach is phenomenal.
"Fans from Alaska to Zimbabwe can interact, share, and engage with compelling content 24/7. It's never been better for fans to feel like a genuine part of the club they support.
"United may have struggled on pitch of late, but continue to dominate in terms of acquisition and engagement the world over."
Manchester United's most engaging post this season featured Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard doing the 'dab' in September on Instagram during their 4-1 victory over Leicester City, receiving 492k likes.
Arsenal's most engaging media was a video of Mesut Ozil giving his shirt to a fan, posted on Facebook, receiving 277,000 likes, 6million views, 27,000 shares and 5,000 comments.
1) Marcus Rashford gives an under-strength United a 2-0 lead at home to Arsenal: 49,000 tweets per minute (Feb 28, 2016)
2) Alexis Sanchez scores to put Arsenal 3-0 up against Man United in the first 20 mins at Emirates: 47,000 tweets per minute (Oct 4, 2015)
3) Ozil scores moments after Arsenal go one up, giving them a 2-0 seventh minute lead against Man United: 41,000 tweets per minute (Oct 4, 2015)
4) Louis Van Gaal throws himself to the floor in front of Mike Dean to protest Arsenal's supposed theatrics: 36,000 tweets per minute (Feb 28, 2016)
Despite United's online superiority, Arsenal midfielder Ozil is the Premier League's most popular player and seventh in the world with 54.9m followers across the big three social platforms.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is Manchester United's most popular player worldwide with 51.6m, followed by Wayne Rooney (47.9m).
Pogba has gained 4.6m new fans this season - more than any other player in Europe's top five leagues.
In fact, since Pogba joined United for a world record £93.25m, the 23-year-old has been the second most discussed player in the world with over 390k mentions on social media - behind Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo on 1.2m.
United's Marcus Rashford has acquired 35 per cent of his fan base this season (750k), while the Gunners' Granit Xhaka has collected 34 per cent of his followers this season (608k).
With 14 million followers, @WayneRooney is not only the most followed player account from Arsenal or United's current crop, he is also in the top 10 most-followed UK individuals. Arsenal's most followed player account is @MesutOzil1088 with 13.7 million Twitter followers.
Meanwhile, Manchester United duo Pogba and Ibrahimovic have dominated global Google search over the last 12 months.
Pogba has been the most searched Man United or Arsenal player in 85 countries, while team-mate Ibrahimovic has dominated 84 different nations.
Rooney is the most googled player from either team in Guernsey, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Syria, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Meanwhile, Ozil is also Arsenal's most popular player on Google, being searched more than any other player in Turkey, Yemen, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Watch Man United v Arsenal live on Sky Sports 1 on Saturday from 11.30am. Or watch for £6.99 without a contract, on NOW TV.
