Liverpool vs Manchester United breaks numerous Sky Sports records
Sunday’s Premier League meeting between rivals Liverpool and Manchester United broke numerous Sky Sports records, the British broadcaster has announced.
Champions Liverpool and league leaders United played out a 0-0 draw at Anfield in a battle for the top flight’s top spot, but the at times dull nature of the game did not stop record-breaking numbers of viewers from tuning in.
A statement released by Sky Sports on Monday read: “Following yesterday’s Premier League clash between Liverpool and Manchester United, Sky Sports has announced a number of viewership milestones achieved.
“Liverpool v Man Utd becomes the biggest ever audience for any event only on Sky Sports (surpassing 4.049 million in April 2012 for Man City v Man Utd).
READ MORE: Premier League table and fixtures – all games by date and kick-off time
“An average of 4.5m viewers tuned into the match, peaking at 4.8m in the final five minutes.
“It becomes the second most viewed Premier League game ever in terms of average audience (second to the 4.94m viewers that tuned into the Merseyside derby in June, broadcast simultaneously on Sky One and FTA on Pick TV).
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“The average audience also ranks higher than the audiences achieved for live Premier League matches on terrestrial television over the last two seasons.
“The match ranks as the second highest rated programme ever on Sky pay channels (to Game of Thrones).
“The match achieved a 25 per cent share of the total TV audience at the time, with 41 per cent of Sky customers who were watching TV at the time tuning in.”
United missed an opportunity to extend their lead over Liverpool to six points as the teams fought to a stalemate at Anfield.
The Red Devils remained at the top of the Premier League table, however, on 37 points, while Liverpool – three points behind – dropped to fourth spot.
Manchester City moved up to second place by thrashing Crystal Palace later on Sunday and now sit just two points behind rivals United, as do third-placed Leicester.
United and Liverpool will meet again this weekend as they bid for a spot in the fifth round of the FA Cup. That fixture will take place at Old Trafford on Sunday.
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