Thursday 11 August 2016 17:06, UK
Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola are about to go head to head in the Premier League but the Manchester United manager is already winning the battle online.
According to Google Trends, ahead of the big 2016/17 kick-off, Mourinho is the most searched coach in the world, with Guardiola sitting third behind Real Madrid's Zinedine Zidane and second among Premier League coaches.
The data highlights the huge global interest in Mourinho and Guardiola's rivalry. The pair were bitter foes with Real Madrid and Barcelona in La Liga, and their upcoming battle for Premier League supremacy kicks off when Manchester City face Sunderland and United travel to Bournemouth this weekend.
Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp is the third most searched Premier League boss, with Leicester's Claudio Ranieri and new Chelsea coach Antonio Conte making up the rest of the top five. That leaves Arsene Wenger in sixth, with Sunderland's new manager David Moyes ranking eighth, ahead of Tottenham's Mauricio Pochettino and West Ham's Slaven Bilic.
But who is the most searched Premier League team? Over the last month, it's little surprise to see Manchester United are top of the pile. The Red Devils have a massive global fanbase, and the blockbuster additions of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba have only added to the recent intrigue.
"Is Pogba going to Manchester United?" was the most frequently asked question in Google, with fans also interested to know his age, faith, and the reasons why he left United in the first place.
As for United's other big arrival, the most common question was "how old is Zlatan Ibrahimovic?", followed by "how tall is Zlatan Ibrahimovic?" and "where is Ibrahimovic from?"
Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea make up the rest of the "top four" of most searched Premier League teams over the last month, with Guardiola's Manchester City fifth, just ahead of champions Leicester.
At the other end of the table, Bournemouth are the least searched club in the Premier League. Eddie Howe's side defied the odds to survive in the top flight last season after their historic promotion in 2014/15, but their fanbase is still a fraction of most Premier League clubs.
Watford occupy 19th place in the table, with newly-promoted Burnley in 18th, just behind Swansea and managerless Hull.
"When does the Premier League start?" has been the most commonly searched question regarding the new campaign in the last month, with "who will win the Premier League?" ranking second.
Fans have also been asking "how many games are there in the Premier League?" and "when is the first game of the Premier League?"
It all kicks off on Saturday lunchtime when reigning champions Leicester travel to Hull - and you can watch the Saturday lunchtime curtain-raiser live on Sky Sports.
