West Ham United and Norwich City have been revealed as the most successful League Cup sides - while Manchester City are ahead of United.

The research has also put to bed the long running debate over who is better, 'City' or 'United'.

Each of the 13 'Citys' and 13 'Uniteds' in the top four divisions were awarded points based on how far they progressed in the League Cup each season since it was introduced in 1960/61, with the 'Citys' coming out on top by quite a margin.

Carling Cup Sponsorship Manager Richard Smith said: "The City vs United debate first came up when we were talking through the Carling Cup first round fixtures and it soon became one of those pub conversations that refused to go away. We thought we ought to apply some science to it and get a proper answer.

"We looked back through the 47-year history of the Cup to work out if it was United or City who came out on top. We were surprised with the results but looking back on the last few years, it's always been a case of expect the unexpected with the Carling Cup - hopefully it's a good omen for this season's competition."

The top five most successful sides are West Ham United, Norwich City, Manchester City, Manchester United and Leeds United, with Hereford United at the bottom of the pile.