Where Man Utd & Man City rank in world’s top 30 clubs against Liverpool, Arsenal & others - gallery

Manchester United and Manchester City feature in the top 30 rated clubs in Opta’s first Power Rankings of 2024.

The system rates 13,000 clubs in the world based on an algorithm which then determines who are the top side on the planet.

Explaining the formula, Opta said: “Opta’s Power Rankings is a global team ranking system that assigns an ability score to nearly 13,500 domestic football teams on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world. The Power Rankings are updated daily and currently rank teams from 183 different countries and 413 unique domestic leagues, providing a truly global rating system in men’s football.”

The algorithm has also analysed scores from over 2,500,000 games since 1990 and assigns a rating to each team that is comparable across leagues, countries, and continents.

We’ve taken a look at the results at the start of 2024 to see where United and City sit, with 10 of the top 30 coming from the Premier League.

For United, they ended 2023 with a dismal loss against Nottingham Forest, a game which once again highlighted the side’s inability to create and score chances. The Red Devils sit eight in the Premier League table at the start of 2024.

As for City, wins over Everton and Sheffield United ensured it was a better finish to December, a month where Pep Guardiola’s side were crowned world champions. But the Blues currently are third in the league and are five points behind leaders Liverpool, albeit City have a game in hand.

But where do the Manchester sides rank in Opta’s latest assessment? Here’s the top 30…