Old rivals headline gameweek four of the 2026-27 Premier League season at Old Trafford, as Manchester United and Manchester City renew hostilities this Sunday in the 199th Manchester derby.
It is a fixture that needs no hyperbole, yet the context makes it utterly compelling. Visitors, the Sky Blues, enter gameweek four at second position of the Premier League standings behind Arsenal, albeit with this game in hand after the Gunners won their game against Sunderland on Saturday. City are five points clear of the Red Devils, who have just one win from their opening three top-flight clashes.
The bitter adversaries both return to domestic duty on the back of Champions League triumphs, the Sky Blues sinking Porto 2-0 before the Red Devils doubled that total in a 4-0 slaying of Sabah.
Pre-season optimism has quickly become early-season pessimism for those of a Man United persuasion, who have been left underwhelmed with the Red Devils' meagre total of four points from an opening three Premier League games, all of which were mismatches on paper. The Red Devils now sit 13th in the standings.
However, Michael Carrick's men only made their squad dominance count in their 5-2 battering of Ipswich Town, sandwiched in between a horrendous 2-0 defeat away at Hull City and a gut-wrenching 2-2 draw to an Everton side boasting just 18 senior players.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles's astonishing leveller for the Toffees last weekend at the Hill Dickinson Stadium condemned Man United to an unwanted and unfamiliar fate, as they have now conceded two goals in each of their opening three league games for just the second time in 50 years, after also doing so in the 2020-21 season.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Red Devils ended up taking second place that year, suggesting that there is no reason for premature panic at Old Trafford, who were in high spirits once again on Thursday evening when their charges swept aside UCL debutants Sabah FK from Azerbaijan.
A first clean sheet of the season and third-straight multiple goal game could not have arrived at a better time for Carrick, who has also prevailed in nine of his 10 Premier League home matches in his second spell and is aiming to become the first Man Utd manager in 113 years to win both of their opening Manchester derbies in the league.
Only AH Albut in 1895 and John Bentley in 1913 have won both of their first two Man Utd vs Man City clashes as Red Devils boss. Carrick, who masterminded a 2-0 victory over Pep Guardiola's City in January last season during his caretaker spell, has the opportunity to etch his name into folklore.
Only eight previous Man City managers have won their first league Manchester derbies - including four this century in Kevin Keegan, Sven-Goran Eriksson, Manuel Pellegrini and Pep Guardiola. Enzo Maresca, who succeeded Guardiola in the summer, is now aiming to join that elite crowd.
Maresca's City have been metronomic. From three straight wins to four consecutive successes across all competitions, City's triumphant sequence continued on Tuesday thanks to Erling Haaland's latest heroic act, a brace against Porto to take him up to a staggering 42 goals from 39 Champions League group stage/league phase games.
Victory for City on Sunday would also see the Sky Blues win their first four Premier League games of a season for the seventh different time - a new outright record, overtaking Chelsea's six - but Maresca's predecessor's final sojourn to Old Trafford last season was a miserable one, as Carrick's Man United prevailed 2-0 in January's derby.
Maresca's side go into the derby knowing that they'll need to win by two goals or more to retake top spot in the standings, although any win will see them start the league season with a perfect four wins from four.
They head to the Theatre of Dreams in the knowledge that they have won more Premier League away games there than any other visiting side, though they lost on their last visit in what was Carrick's first game in charge in this spell of management.
Since that January derby, the Red Devils' former captain has overseen nine league wins out of 10 matches at home, and if he were to steer his side to another victory over City, he'd become the first United manager in 113 years to win his first two home derbies in the league.
The Red Devils have failed to score in four of their last six home matches against City, but with 11 goals in their last three games in all competitions, they are now in decent scoring form and will be looking to add to that tally.
They haven't beaten City twice in a row at Old Trafford since a run of three victories between 2008/09 and 2010/11. However, they do have the edge in terms of Premier League wins against them (13 to nine).
The visitors have outscored them in derbies in the EPL era (84 to 81), but United again prevail in terms of total wins (27 to 21, with 10 games drawn).
In Erling Haaland, City have a player who strikes fear into opposition defences. Indeed, his eight goals against United mean only Alan Shearer (10) and Mohamed Salah (13) have more goals against them since the creation of the Premier League, but importantly, only two of those eight have come at Old Trafford.
The Norwegian's 11 goal involvements against United in the EPL era, which include three assists, mean he has more than any other Man City player since 1992/93.
Phil Foden's output against the Red Devils is also noteworthy, with seven goals against them only being topped by the amount he's scored against Brighton. Like Haaland, however, most have come at the Etihad Stadium, with just one scored at the home of their rivals.
The seven goals that City have scored this season mirror United's output (only Chelsea have scored more - eight), though the hosts have conceded six in their three games, with three of those coming in the first 15 minutes of the start - something Maresca will be keen to exploit.
Furthermore, two goals conceded in each of their opening three EPL matches this season equals the record from 2020/21, and is just the second time in 50 years that this has occurred.
With 19 shots each on target, both Manchester clubs have the most to date in the 2026/27 Premier League, though United have had the most total shots (68) and the second-highest xG (7.3).
Last season, United captain Bruno Fernandes broke the record for most assists in a season, taking the title that had been jointly held by Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry. His importance to the Red Devils can't be understated, and he's started the 26/27 campaign in fine form again, given that he is leading the top scorers list with three goals and one assist.
The game promises to be another absorbing watch, with the outcome too close to call at this point. Despite the five-point chasm in the table, Old Trafford remains a leveller.
Kick-off: 4:30 PM BST, 18:30Hrs East African Time
