Old Trafford will play host to a highly-anticipated Premier League derby on Saturday lunchtime, as Manchester United welcome Manchester City to the Theatre of Dreams.
Two places and three points separate the bitter rivals in the table at present, with one manager certainly under more pressure than his counterpart this week.
One can only begin to imagine what failure to beat Tottenham Hotspur would have meant for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s time in the dugout, with the Norwegian desperately seeking a response from his side’s utter humiliation at the hands of Liverpool.
However, in a game which would ultimately cost his opposite number Nuno Espirito Santo his job, United prevailed comfortably in North London, as strikes from Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani and Marcus Rashford set the Red Devils on their way to a 3-0 win.
Having managed to pull themselves out of their rut – at least for now – with victory at Spurs, Man United are hanging on to their fifth-placed position in the table after 10 matches, but Arsenal are now only behind Solskjaer’s men on goal difference.
One game involving the Manchester clubs last weekend was expected to be a walkover, while the other was tipped to be a tight affair between two managers under immense pressure to deliver a result.
However, Crystal Palace ripped up the form book to come away from the Etihad with all three points to show for it, as Wilfried Zaha and Conor Gallagher struck either side of Aymeric Laporte’s red card in a memorable 2-0 win for the Eagles.
Having seen their eight-game unbeaten run in the top flight come to a bitter end, third-placed City are now five points adrift leaders Chelsea after 10 matches, but they have taken 10 points from the last 12 on offer away from home in the Premier League.
Despite posting two EFL Cup wins against their rivals in recent years, City are winless in four Premier League Manchester derbies – failing to score in any of their last three.
