Supporting one of the Premier League's biggest clubs means you've got to face the banter that comes with it.

Manchester City fans must be sick to the stomach of jokes about the 'Emptihad', while the Tottenham faithful had to put up with constant mockery from Arsenal for decades on end.

However, it's England's two biggest fanbases that have been put under the spotlight this week as Manchester United and Liverpool prepare to face off at Anfield on Sunday.

It's only natural that the country's two most decorated clubs are the ones that have attracted the most supporters and especially when they're based in historic UK cities.

That being said, nobody is under the illusion that all of their fans hail from that particular city and United backers are especially aware of the teasing that comes with 'long distance supporting.'

Study on Premier League fans

The old rhetoric goes that 'real Mancunians' support City, whereas those cheering on the Red Devils are simply 'glory supporters' from the Sir Alex Ferguson days. Make of that what you will.

However, before we get bogged down in opinions and jokes, Casumo have instigated a new Twitter study that could shine a light on where the fans of these teams are truly based.

According to the Mirror, they took a random sample of 50,000 accounts from every Premier League club's Twitter page and verified the hometown location of each participant.

Supporters from London

The study found that United are indeed the most supported club in the country, but their location statistics will only add fuel to the fire of 'Cockney Reds' jokes.

That's because the majority of United fans were found to reside in London at a total of 2.1 million, whereas a lesser number of 1.4 million hailed from the wider Manchester area.

Though, it must be noted that London's population of 8.9 million is far larger than Manchester's total of 510,000.

But United aren't alone in having a larger London fanbase, because Liverpool are in the same boat with 890,000 Kopites emanating from the capital city and just 667,000 from the mother city itself.

That being said, the gap for Liverpool fans is far smaller than for United...

Diversity in origin

Arsenal are actually the most supported team in the 'Big Smoke' with 2.4 million fans to their name, followed by Chelsea (1.4 million) and finally Tottenham Hotspur (650,000).

Diversity of origin for football fans is, of course, nothing to throw barbs at... as long as local clubs are also being supported in tandem.

The fact so many United fans hail from the capital doesn't completely devalue them and attending fewer games is more than understandable considering the distances and prices at play.

However, that's not to say there aren't a handful of bandwagon-jumpers in amongst the data-sets. You know who you are.