Ask 10 football fans in a pub whether Liverpool or Manchester United have won more trophies, and you'll probably hear 10 different numbers. Some will say it's level. Others will swear their club is five clear. And the strange part is that most of them can back up their answer with real, checkable facts.
The debate got louder after Liverpool won the 2024-25 Premier League. That title took Liverpool level with United on 20 English top-flight crowns each, with Arne Slot guiding the Reds to success in his first season at the club. A tie on the headline stat should have settled things. Instead, it pushed fans into the smaller print, where the real arguments live.
For readers who follow the rivalry with money on the line, the trophy cabinet rarely moves a market, even if it shapes the mood before kickoff. The most recent meeting was on May 3, 2026, when Manchester United beat Liverpool 3-2 in the Premier League, and the next one is scheduled at Anfield on November 21, 2026. Anyone checking derby prices, whether on BetFury casino and sportsbook or elsewhere, will find the lines built on current form, injuries, and home advantage rather than on who won the 1977 Charity Shield. History makes a great argument. It makes a poor betting model.
The League Title Tie That Settled Nothing
Twenty each. Simple, right?
Not quite. The league count is the one number both clubs agree on, so it tends to get treated as a starting point rather than a verdict. Sir Alex Ferguson famously talked about knocking Liverpool "off their perch," and by the time he retired in 2013, United led 20-18. United won 38 trophies during Ferguson's 26 and a half years in charge, which is more than half of their overall total. Liverpool needed Jurgen Klopp's 2019-20 title and Slot's 2024-25 title to close that gap, and neither club added a trophy in 2025-26 (Manchester City took both domestic cups). So the league race is frozen at a tie heading into this season, which is exactly why fans started counting everything else.
How the Community Shield Changes Everything
This is where it gets messy. The Community Shield (the Charity Shield until 2002) is a one-off match played every August between the league champions and the FA Cup winners. Some fans call it a proper trophy. Others call it a glorified friendly.
Even the authorities don't treat it consistently. The FA categorises the Shield as a friendly for disciplinary purposes, so yellow and red cards don't carry over into other domestic games. Yet the clubs parade it, the players collect medals, and it's handed over at Wembley in front of a crowd. So is it silverware or pre-season? It depends on which fan you ask, and that choice alone swings the whole count.
Leave the Shield out, and the tally looks like this for Liverpool:
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20 league titles
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8 FA Cups plus a record 10 League Cups
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6 European Cups, 3 UEFA Cups, and 4 UEFA Super Cups
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1 FIFA Club World Cup, won on December 21, 2019
That's 52. United's equivalent comes to 47, leaving Liverpool five clear, with 52 trophies compared to United's 47.
Now add the Shields. Liverpool have 16. United have 21. Suddenly both clubs sit on 68, which matches the figure that some outlets use as each club's total of major trophies.
The Shared Shield Problem
But it doesn't stop there. Before penalty shootouts were brought in, a drawn Charity Shield meant each club kept the trophy for six months. Liverpool have five of those shared Shields, and United have four.
Here's the odd bit that most trophy lists skip. Three of those shared Shields, in 1965, 1977, and 1990, were shared between Liverpool and United themselves. Both clubs count them. Neither club really "won" them.
Strip out the shared Shields, and the numbers flip again. Liverpool drop to 63 and United to 64. So depending on one rule about draws in a summer curtain-raiser, United go from five behind to level to one ahead. That's probably the neatest illustration of why the argument never ends.
Which Trophies Count as "Major" Anyway?
Most fans agree the league, the FA Cup, and the European Cup are the big ones. Beyond that, opinions split fast.
Take the League Cup. Liverpool's 10 wins are a competition record, and Liverpool supporters tend to treat it as a serious prize. Some United fans, though, argue it was a second-tier tournament for long stretches (big clubs often fielded weakened sides in the early rounds). It's hard to argue that a League Cup equals a Champions League. Still, a trophy is a trophy on the official club honours list, and both clubs list theirs.
If you only count the "big three," the picture changes once more. League titles are 20-20, United lead the FA Cup 13-8, and Liverpool lead the European Cup 6-3. That's 36 for United and 34 for Liverpool. Another switch.
The Intercontinental Cup Question
United's 1999 Intercontinental Cup win over Palmeiras in Tokyo is a real sticking point. For years it was seen as a club-versus-club showpiece rather than a world title. Then, in 2017, FIFA officially recognised Intercontinental Cup winners as club world champions. So United fans now claim two world titles (1999 and 2008), while some Liverpool fans argue the 1999 game shouldn't sit alongside the modern Club World Cup.
The Super Cup and Other One-Off Finals
The UEFA Super Cup gets less attention, but it adds up. Liverpool have four and United have one. Some counters lump it with the Shield as a "curtain-raiser," others treat it as a full European honour.
The Oddities Almost Nobody Counts
Every serious trophy debate eventually hits the weird stuff. And this rivalry has plenty.
A few examples tend to come up when fans really dig in:
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Second Division titles, where Liverpool hold four and United two, which some older record books included as honours
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The Screen Sport Super Cup of 1985-86, a short-lived competition created for English clubs banned from Europe, which Liverpool won and almost nobody lists today
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Regional and wartime trophies from the early 20th century that appear in some club histories but not others
Speaking from years of watching these arguments play out on social media and radio phone-ins, the loudest fights usually start when someone quietly slips one of these into their total. Nobody notices at first. Then someone does, and the thread explodes.
Why European Silverware Tilts the Debate
Across continental and world competition, Liverpool clearly lead. Since 1964, Liverpool have won 14 European and worldwide trophies, more than any other British club. United's total in the same category is 8. That gap is the strongest single argument Liverpool fans have, and it's probably why they prefer counts that leave the Shield out.
United fans lean the other way. Their edge sits in the FA Cup and the Community Shield, two domestic competitions where they've been more consistent over the decades. So each fan base tends to pick the counting method that flatters their club. That's human. It's also why neutral outlets often publish two or three versions of the same table.
What the Count Means for Fans and Bettors
For supporters, the count is identity. It's bragging rights at work on Monday morning and ammunition for the next derby. So why would anyone expect them to agree on the rules when the rules decide who wins?
For bettors, the honours board says very little about the next 90 minutes. The all-time head-to-head record is closer to useful, though even that's shaky as a guide. Across 218 meetings, United lead with 85 wins to Liverpool's 72, with 61 draws, and the largest win in the fixture was Liverpool's 7-0 at Anfield on March 5, 2023. That 7-0 hasn't stopped United from winning the last two meetings, which kind of proves the point.
The current season is where the next trophy fight will be decided. One League Cup or one Europa League win could shift every version of the table by a point. And if either club lifts the 2026-27 Premier League, the 20-20 tie finally breaks, which might be the only result that quiets the argument for a while. Probably not for long, though. Somebody will still bring up 1990.