Arsene Wenger equalled Sir Alex Ferguson’s record of having taken charge of 810 Premier League games in Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Thursday.
He will go on to break the record when the Gunners visit West Bromwich Albion on New Year’s Eve.
But how do the records of these two iconic managers compare?
WINS AND GOALS
Wenger has won 468 of his 810 matches, a very healthy win percentage of 58 per cent. However, that does not quite match up with the record of the former Manchester United manager.
Ferguson won 528 Premier League games in his career – a win percentage of 65 per cent – so Wenger will need to go on beyond his current contract to surpass that.
The Frenchman has already drawn 29 more games than Ferguson did and lost 31 more games than the Scot. His Arsenal side have conceded 78 more than Ferguson’s United too and scored 103 fewer.
With 56 more Premier League games to play before the end of next season, Wenger could well break that goalscoring record.
POINTS AND TROPHIES
Ferguson’s points record is a little further away. The former United boss won 1,752 Premier League points in his career. Wenger is on 1,601, a record of 1.98 points per game compared to Ferguson’s tally of 2.16 points per game.
That small difference was crucial – Wenger has won three Premier League titles to Ferguson’s amazing haul of 13.
AWARDS
Wenger has also won three manager of the year awards during his Premier League career, putting him joint-second on the list of winners alongside his old rival Jose Mourinho.
But Wenger cannot come close to the 11 manager of the year awards picked up by Ferguson between 1994 and 2013. That is one record unlikely to ever be beaten.
In as much as Sir Alex Ferguson was way more successful than his French contemporary, the unprecedented amount of time they have spent being top managers means that There are no PL managers that can be mentioned in the breath of these two iconic men.
Wenger, though, has a season and half at the very least to improve on his PL numbers.
