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Is Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea the biggest club? Sportsmail's study finally settles football's great debate...

                                                                                                                                   

Ask most football fans if theirs is a ‘big’ club and they will tell you with conviction: of course. ‘Giants’ from the North West to the North East, from Yorkshire to the Midlands to London and across the South will point to historic titles, cup glories, bumper crowds or modern TV riches and insist: ‘We are a huge club.’

Manchester United and Liverpool, with 38 English league titles between them, might reasonably point to last Sunday’s match and argue it was a contest between England’s two biggest teams.

Certainly over the years they have enjoyed serial trophy successes, global adulation, showcased generations of stars and both have rich, stirring histories in more than one sense. Then again, supporters of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City might reasonably scoff at that, arguing that at least their teams are likely to play at the highest European level next season. They’re not scrapping around merely to squeeze into the top four.

Fans of Liverpool and Manchester United will argue that their clubs are the top two in the land

Liverpool fans in the famous Kop watch their side lose to Manchester United in a gripping contest

Manchester United enjoy their Champions League win of 1999 to cap their famous Treble

Liverpool players jump for joy after sealing their league title in 1986 before adding the FA Cup a week later

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Frank McLintock, George Graham and Charlie George celebrate as Arsenal complete the Double in 1971

Chelsea won the second league title in the club's history in Jose Mourinho's first season in England

And then there are fans from all points on the map who will, with different levels of justification, swear their club is up there with all those names above, or getting closer by the day, or merely enduring a painful blip, perhaps of decades, but they will be back.

Yes, that’s you, fans of Leeds. And Tottenham. And Everton. And Newcastle, Wolves, Aston Villa, Sunderland, both Sheffield clubs, West Ham, Blackburn... and on and on and on

So who, objectively, are the biggest clubs in England?

That’s the question Sportsmail answers today. We’ve used no opinion, just hard evidence to determine the answers.

The outcome might surprise you. It will certainly provoke debate.