The 195th Manchester derby takes centre stage at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday as Manchester City butt heads with rivals Manchester United in the Premier League.
Both teams have had their fair share of struggles this season and are in desperate need of a result, not only to earn the bragging rights, but to reignite their top-flight campaign following a poor start to 2024-25.
Man City head into this weekend's showdown having won just one of their last 10 matches across all competitions, losing seven of those including a disappointing 2-0 Champions League defeat at Juventus on Wednesday.
While Pep Guardiola's side are in danger of failing to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Champions League, their Premier League title hopes are hanging by the thinnest of threads, as they sit fourth in the table - at the time of writing - and eight points behind leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
Man City's extremely high standards have certainly slipped to new lows this term, but they are still seven points ahead of their rivals Man United, who are languishing in 13th place in the table with just 19 points - their lowest tally after 15 games since the 1986-87 campaign.
New head coach Ruben Amorim has lost his last two Premier League games against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest, suffering a 3-2 home defeat to the latter last weekend, but the Red Devils returned to winning ways in the Europa League on Thursday night as they beat Viktoria Plzen 2-1 in Czechia.
Are Man United "more fragile" than Man City?
While Man City have been far from their best this season, suffering a significant drop-off in form amidst their well-documented fitness woes, Man United are arguably "more fragile" than Guardiola's side in the eyes of Citizens expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany, who is confident of a home victory on Sunday.
Speaking to Sports Mole, McInerney said: "I'm pretty confident because it's at the Etihad. United have had a really tough start under Amorim. Of course, they had the big victory against Everton (4-0), but the Forest [result] was a bit of a humbling for them, they just had too much quality.
"I know United had plenty of shots and really good possession (against Forest), but there are real structural problems still for United. There was a total lack of urgency defensively and I think there's still a lack of quality, particularly out wide. As much as people like Amad Diallo and [Diogo] Dalot are great players, I'd be amazed personally if they're the long-term wing-back solutions for this system."
"I think City will be okay," McInerney added. "I think we will win this game, mainly because United are very fragile, more fragile than City arguably. Amorim's obviously got the way that he wants to play and United fans seem to be enjoying him even if the results aren't there.
"I just think it's probably a good time for City to play them. They're very much in the shake-up period where Amorim is trying to work out who is going to come with him on this journey as they try and change things up.
"A lot of these players probably don't have the necessary quality for the system, so I'm expecting City to - depending on the injuries - enjoy the game and probably win because United - as bad as City have been - can always cheer us up a little bit."
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Can Fernandes thrive against Man City's frail defence?
McInerney has acknowledged the threat that Man United could pose to Man City on the counter-attack and has identified Red Devils captain Bruno Fernandes as one player who could "thrive" against a defensive frail Citizens outfit that have conceded 21 goals in their last 10 games.
"I think City will enjoy playing against United, but I think United will get joy once again on the counter-attack with Fernandes, who always plays well against City," said McInerney.
"Even if he's not always on the winning side, he's just effective against City. The space that City leave these days, Fernandes absolutely thrives in it, he really does. He's got so much technical quality."
On the flip side, McInerney believes that Man City can exploit Man United "down the channels" and feels that the Citizens - particularly Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne - could "have a lot of joy" against a three-man Red Devils defence comprised of Lisandro Martinez, Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt.
"Martinez has rarely had a great game against City, and [Leny] Yoro is obviously really young if he plays. I'm still not that sold on Matthijs de Ligt unfortunately," said McInerney.
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Will City "have a lot of joy" against United's unsettled back three?
"I think at some point he looked like a quality player, but I'm not sure he's ever really reached the levels that people thought he was going to for a long time, and he's a little bit static for my liking.
"I don't think he reads the pace of the game very well, and I'd be amazed if Haaland - if De Bruyne is on the pitch - wasn't found a few times.
"I don't think United have fully adapted to that back three system yet, so that to me is where I think City will have a lot of joy. If City can once again play [Jack] Grealish in midfield, which I think works really well against Forest... I [also] think [Jeremy] Doku would have a field day down United's right-hand side.
"If Bernardo [Silva] can be on the pitch as a right winger, with De Bruyne overlapping once again, they'll find space, and [City can] down United's left-hand side as well. If they take their chances - that's City's biggest problem right now, not taking their chances - if they do, it should be pretty comfortable."
Man City have got the better of Man United in the majority of their recent meetings, winning eight of the last 11 Manchester derbies in all competitions.
The Citizens did the double over the Red Devils in the Premier League last season before losing the FA Cup final to Erik ten Hag's side, but they most recently won the Community Shield in August via a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes.
Press play on the video in this article to hear the full discussion.
Oliver Thomas
