In football, nothing elicits a more visceral reaction from the fans than a big win on derby day. What have been the most emphatic wins in local rivalries in the Premier League era?
That’s what we’ll be looking at today – we’ll be including the biggest wins in storied rivalries such as Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United vs Manchester City and Manchester United vs Liverpool and Spurs vs Chelsea.
For reference, we will only be considering local derbies for this list. Competitive rivalries, such as Chelsea vs Liverpool and Manchester City vs Arsenal, will not be taken into consideration.
Arsenal 4-1 Tottenham Hotspur (2025/26)
This one should be fresh in the memory – Arsenal gave their bitter rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, a savage footballing lesson in the latest iteration of the North London Derby.
Arsenal went into the break 2-0 up thanks to goals from Leandro Trossard and Eberechi Eze. In the second half, Eze tripled his tally to score just the fourth hattrick in North London Derby history.
Spurs would mount a brief fightback when Richarlison scored a wonder goal distance, but this faint glimmer of hope would soon by extinguished by the Gunners who completely outclassed their opposition.
Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City (2011/12)
Manchester City’s demolition job of Manchester United in 2011 was a real watershed moment for the two clubs. It marked the beginning of the end for Alex Ferguson’s era of dominance (though they would win one more Premier League title before he retired) and ushered in a golden period for City.
The game was fairly even in the first half, with City taking the lead through Mario Balotelli. Early on after the break, Jonny Evans was sent off – United held things together for a period, but completely fell apart in the dying embers of the match.
Balotelli scored again, followed up by Sergio Aguero. United tried to mount a fightback after Darren Fletcher scored in the 81st minute, but City would ruthlessly respond by scoring three late goals and putting the rubber stamp on the Red Devils’ humiliation.
Tottenham Hotspur 1-6 Chelsea (1997/98)
Sorry, Tottenham fans – this one isn’t quite as fresh in the memory as their most recent local hammering, but it will still sting for those old enough to remember it.
Bizarrely enough, the game was poised at 1-1 at the break. Tottenham conceded five goals in a shambolic second half, which included a Tore Andre Flo hattrick and goals from Roberto Di Matteo, Mark Nicholls and Dan Petrescu.
To make matters worse, the game took place at White Hart Lane. Losing to a local rival away from home is bad enough, but to receive such a brutal shellacking on your own turf against a hated rival is inexcusable.
Chelsea 6-0 Arsenal (2013/14)
Arsene Wenger’s 1000th game at Arsenal gave him little to celebrate – if anything, it was a cruelly ironic example of how Wenger’s style had grown stale at the Emirates Stadium by this point.
Arsenal were on the backfoot from the opening whistle in this one. They were 2-0 down after seven minutes – not long after this, they were down to ten men after Kieran Gibbs was erroneously sent off instead of Alex Olade-Chamberlain.
By the end of the first half, Arsenal were 4-0 down. Chelsea added two more goals to their tally in the second half, thanks to Oscar and Mohamed Salah (wonder what happened to him?).
Liverpool 7-0 Manchester United
Perhaps the most famous derby day victory in Premier League history, Liverpool’s 7-0 win over Manchester United is synonymous with Jurgen Klopp’s era of dominance at Anfield.
It took them a while to get going, but Liverpool thoroughly trounced United once they found their scoring boots. The score was just 1-0 after half time – the Red Devils completely collapsed in the second half.
Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah each scored a brace, as Roberto Firmino added an eighth late on. Not only was this the biggest derby day win in Premier League history, it was arguably the lowest point for Manchester United during the Premier League era.