Kevin De Bruyne has ranked the atmosphere generated by Arsenal, Newcastle United, and Liverpool supporters at the Emirates Stadium, St James Park’ and Anfield, respectively.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the Manchester City superstar impressed football fans by giving honest and frank answers to all the questions asked by presenter Joe Thomlinson. De Bruyne was even prepared to rank Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes ahead of Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard and Tottenham’s James Maddison when asked his thoughts on the midfield trio.
De Bruyne also ranked Zinedine Zidane in top spot, ahead of Luka Modric and Andres Iniesta, as football’s most legendary midfielder out of the three. There’s a high chance that De Bruyne himself will be spoken about in the same breath as those icons by the time he hangs up his boots. The 32-year-old has been one of the Premier League’s most outstanding performers over the past eight years and is widely considered one of the best midfielders in world football.
De Bruyne ranks Premier League stadiums on atmosphere
Asked to rank the three Premier League grounds based on atmosphere, De Bruyne immediately put St James Park in the number one spot, surprising the presenter in the process. He then put Anfield in second position, with the Emirates Stadium in third.
What did De Bruyne say about St James Park?
Thomlinson said to De Bruyne: “I think that will shock a few people. St James’ Park at number one?”
De Bruyne, who joined Man City in 2015 from German side Wolfsburg, praised the atmosphere generated by Newcastle fans even during their difficult spell under former owner Mike Ashley, commenting: “Even when it was not going well, the atmosphere was still quite good.”
What did De Bruyne say about Anfield?
On his decision to put Anfield in second place, De Bruyne said there’s a big difference between playing Liverpool during the day compared to at night. He said: “I think for Liverpool - obviously it’s always a big game between us - but I feel there’s a difference when it’s Champions League or a night game, than when you play a 12 o’clock kick-off.”
What did De Bruyne say about the Emirates Stadium?
And on his decision to put Arsenal in last place, De Bruyne added: “I feel [Newcastle’s St James Park and Liverpool’s Anfield] are a bigger atmosphere than Arsenal. I feel last year was much, much better. Obviously it was tough in the years before.
“There’s much more positivity. There was a moment when we played them in the League Cup, then three days later we played against them at home. It was icy and nobody was in the stadium. It was really negative at the time. There’s been a big change, but that’s good for them, obviously.”
Indeed, most people will agree with De Bruyne’s assessment. The general mood among Arsenal fans has markedly improved over the past 12 months - thanks largely to manager Mikel Arteta, who has transformed the team following his appointment in 2019.
The Gunners went close to winning their first Premier League title since 2004 last season, with De Bruyne and his Man City teammates pipping them to top spot during the final weeks of the campaign. Arsenal find themselves among the favourites to win this season’s league title but know they’ll need to be at their absolute best in order to finish above Pep Guardiola’s trophy-winning machine.