Liverpool are strong in Australia and parts of the Far East, including Thailand

Arsenal come out on top in North America and in most of Europe

Manchester United dominate Twitter followers in Asia while Chelsea are strong in South America

constituency level in the UK and national level across the world

Support for clubs has been broken down into


It is the age old debate but with a modern twist: which Premier League club is the most popular according to Twitter followers.

For the first time ever, fans can see a detailed breakdown of how support for every club varies around the world and in the UK supporters can go as in-depth as seeing the three most popular teams in their local constituency.

So, what exactly does the data show?

HOW DOES IT WORK? The map was created by looking at the official Twitter accounts for each team, using their followers as an indicator of allegiance. Fans can toggle the map to view their club's support worldwide, see the most popular clubs globally and compare their club with a rival. Using the 'Zoom to' function fans can also look at any country around the world. Advertisement

Liverpool may be struggling in the Premier League and looking at a 2015-16 campaign without Champions League football, but in terms of Twitter followers they dominate the UK.

Arsenal have strong support in London and the south east and actually have more followers in the backyards of rivals Chelsea and Tottenham.

In Manchester, it is a win for Louis van Gaal's United who dominate the area apart from Gorton where rivals City are more popular. United also have pockets of concentrated support across the UK.

Chelsea have strong support in the Western Isles, while clubs such as Newcastle, Sunderland, Hull City, Burnley, Stoke City, Leicester City, Aston Villa, Swansea and Southampton dominate their local areas.

But while Liverpool completely dominate the UK market, their global appeal is less impressive.

Brendan Rodgers' side have a large following across the world with strong support in Thailand, Norway, Iceland, Uruguay and Australia but find themselves playing second fiddle to the Premier League's other giants in other areas.

For instance, the rest of Asia apart from Thailand is dominated by Manchester United - who have strong followings in India and Pakistan and edge out Chelsea in Malaysia and Indonesia, too. While in Japan, South Korea and the Philippines it is Arsenal who come out on top.

The UK (left) is dominated by Liverpool green while South America (right) is very much a strong hold of Chelsea

London and the south east is a sea of yellow reflecting Arsenal's domination, with pockets of support for Chelsea (blue) and Liverpool (green)

North America is somewhat surprisingly dominated by Arsenal (yellow) with pockets of support for Chelsea (blue) and Man United (red)

Eden Hazard (left) and Ramires (right) in action for Chelsea against a MLS All-Star team during the club's 2012 tour of America

Somewhat surprisingly, United are only the third best supported team in America - despite touring the states frequently over the years and having American owners. Chelsea beat Van Gaal's side to second but it is Arsenal - whose largest shareholder is American Stan Kroenke - who dominate across the pond.

Arsenal and Chelsea also split Europe, with Arsene Wenger's side most popular in northern European countries such as France, Germany and Poland and Chelsea taking the south.

Arsenal are also well supported in northern Africa (Algeria and Morocco) but further south United turn South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe red.

Across the globe, Arsenal are the most popular team with 5.6million followers, followed by Chelsea (5.4m) and Manchester United (4.8m).

The reasons behind support for a club in any country or area are of course complicated, but certain trends can be explained. For instance, there is often huge support in certain countries for national heroes. Ivory Coast is pro-Chelsea because of Didier Drogba, Uruguay is a Liverpool stronghold due to the now departed Luis Suarez and Bosnia and Herzegovina is light blue thanks to Edin Dzeko's presence at Manchester City.

Arsenal went on tour to Asia in 2013 and they will take part in the 2015 Premier League Asia Trophy in Singapore in the summer

In Asia it is Manchester United (red) who just edge the overall support from Chelsea (blue) and Arsenal (yellow)

Liverpool dominate Twitter followers in Australia with pockets of support for Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United as well

The Melbourne Cricket Ground was packed to 95,000 capacity when Liverpool took on Melbourne Victory in July 2013

And this trend doesn't just happen at the so-called bigger Premier League clubs. Swansea are well supported in South Korea and Iceland presumably because of Ki Sung-yueng and Gylfi Sigurdsson. Enner Valencia being at Upton Park has boosted West Ham's following in the striker's native Ecuador and Everton are still popular in Cameroon even though Samuel Eto'o has left the club.

Owners may also have a factor - in Malaysia QPR have a stronger-than-average following which could be attributed to the popularity of the club's owner Tony Fernandes in the country. Russia and the former Soviet countries are very much Chelsea hotbeds and again this may be down to the popularity of Roman Abramovich.

With clubs always jostling to expand their fan base and Twitter growing popularity, this could be the new battle ground for clubs.