FootyChatter.com

This Sunday’s meeting between Manchester City and Manchester United has a rather different feel to it. Not only will it be their first derby since December 2020 in which neither club begins the day in the Premier League's top three, if we add their current points tallies together, this is Manchester's worst start to a season for 22 years. Man Utd’s 19 points after 15 matches is their fewest at this stage in the Premier League era, while Man City's total of 27 points is their lowest at this stage since 2010/11. Their combined 46 points are the lowest since 2002, according to BBC statistician Chris Collinson. Yet with Pep Guardiola’s team eager to end their dreadful run and Ruben Amorim seeking a statement win for this early stage of his tenure, the derby is as important as ever. So who can find salvation at the Etihad Stadium? For Man City, the drop-off from a team that became the first in English football history to win four successive top-flight titles has been alarming and unexpectedly sudden. Less than seven weeks ago, Guardiola’s side were undefeated in both the Premier League and UEFA Champions League, sitting top of the former and third in the latter. The period since has been the worst in the career of a managerial titan. In their last 10 matches in all competitions, City have won only one and lost seven. It took them 105 matches to register their previous seven defeats. They have slipped to fourth in the Premier League table and sit a lowly 22nd in the UEFA Champions League, where they are at risk of failing to qualify for the knockout stages for the first time in 12 years. "The soul and spirit of this team is there, " insisted Guardiola, during his pre-match press conference. "I’m sad for the players because of the way they run and fight in the circumstances. And, of course, our fans, maybe they’re sad. I understand it - we’re not used to it. "I know and completely understand our fans may be sad. This group of players have made an era and done things no one else has done. [They have] broken records. I just call the supporters to be there until the end. "This group of players, they will support them to the end because they deserve it. " Even acknowledging City’s habitual ability to finish a season strongly under Guardiola, the Spaniard has never seen his team start a campaign so badly during his tenure. Speaking after his side twice came from behind to salvage a 2-2 draw at struggling Crystal Palace last weekend, Guardiola suggested: "It’s a season to survive. "We cannot talk about the title race when we lose four games in a row and [then] draw. " Offensively, the reliance on Erling Haaland has proved stifling, with the Norwegian notching 18 goals in all competitions while no other player has managed more than three. After an outstanding 2023/24 campaign in which he scored 27 goals in all competitions and earned multiple individual accolades, including the EA SPORTS Player of the Season, Phil Foden is yet to find the net in the Premier League in 2024/25. Hampered by illness and minor niggles, he has only started six matches. Should he fail to score in Sunday’s match, Jack Grealish, the club’s record signing, will not have a City goal to his name for an entire year. He has started only five matches in the league this season. But it is defensively that City have floundered most, conceding 23 goals in their last 10 matches in all competitions. In the Premier League, they have only kept clean sheets in 20 per cent of their matches (three in 15 so far) this season, compared with 34 per cent last season (13 in 38). Almost every defensive metric shows a notable decline from last year’s title-winning campaign, with opposition teams regularly capitalising on the injury-enforced absence of Ballon d’Or winner Rodri by seizing possession and breaking at speed. "Turnovers are killing them, massively, " said Rio Ferdinand on TNT Sports after City’s 2-0 UEFA Champions League defeat at Juventus on Wednesday. "As soon as they turn the ball over, they look vulnerable. Teams are slicing through them, running off players. "There are big holes and big, big spaces on the pitch for teams to exploit. And they are getting punished. " After that match, Ilkay Gundogan suggested low confidence was an issue. “Sometimes, in one action we miss the ball, lose a duel, and you see that we drop immediately, lose the rhythm, " said the City midfielder. "They are able to break our rhythm with the easiest of things. They don’t even need to do much. "At the moment it feels like every attack we concede is just so dangerous. I have a feeling sometimes we are a bit careless with duels. Instead of playing simple, we overcomplicate things, and we missed the right timing to release the ball. We just lose the ball and give them counter-attacks. ” City could be boosted on Sunday by the return of Mateo Kovacic, who appears best suited to fill the Rodri void, after the Croatian midfielder was an unused substitute for the Juventus match. Amorim was always upfront about the scale of his task upon taking charge at Man Utd last month. Rarely does such a big club attempt the radical mid-season shift in formation and strategy that the Red Devils have opted for this year. "The storm will come, " predicted Amorim, after initial wins over Everton and Bodo/Glimt, and a draw at Ipswich Town, had extended the club’s unbeaten run to seven matches since Erik ten Hag’s departure. So it has proven, with consecutive Premier League defeats to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest, before Rasmus Hojlund came off the bench to score twice in a UEFA Europa League comeback win at Viktoria Plzen on Thursday night. Indeed, no Man Utd manager - whether permanent, interim or caretaker - has endured a worse start to their Premier League reign than the Portuguese head coach. Rotate mobile device to see full table Defeat at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday would consign United to their third successive Premier League loss in a single season for the first time since Louis van Gaal’s tenure in December 2015. Given the scale of the changes he is attempting to implement - with a squad assembled for an entirely different style - it is only right that Amorim is afforded time. "It will be a long journey, " he said earlier this month. Amorim’s main alteration has been a shift to a back three, with wing-backs playing either side - a change that has meant attempting to squeeze some square pegs into round holes. The new manager has also been grappling with the return of a number of players from lengthy injuries. The consequence has been a hefty dose of player rotation, with Amorim making 16 changes to his starting XIs in United’s four Premier League matches under his charge. Excluding Amorim and interim managers, Opta Analyst found the average number of line-up changes in the Premier League this season is 2. 1 per match. Amorim currently averages four. He has also used all five permitted substitutions in every one of those four Premier League matches. The timing of his arrival at Old Trafford has left Amorim’s players learning on the job. "We still need more time, " said Hojlund after the win against Viktoria Plzen. "It’s still very early days. It’s about getting our routines together and it is getting there. "I know it sounds odd, but we don’t get enough time on the training ground, so we have to train it during the matches. But it’s getting better and better. " In spite - or perhaps because - of their team’s respective troubles this season, both sets of supporters will be more desperate than ever to get one over their neighbours on Sunday. But Guardiola was determined to downplay the derby’s significance when speaking to the media on Friday. "It is a football game, " said the City manager. "It is emotional for the fans and it has been special in recent years. "In these type of games the less emotional you are, the better. " Guardiola’s side have been dominant in the fixture over recent years, winning five of the last six Premier League Manchester derbies. United have lost the past three at the Etihad by an aggregate score of 13-5. Adrian Clarke assesses how Man City and Man Utd could end their poor form to claim a much-needed win Those City teams have invariably been in the thick of a title race, but this current incarnation are just yearning for the end of their current poor run. They will not be helped by their depleted defensive options, with Rico Lewis suspended, and Manuel Akanji likely to join John Stones and Nathan Ake on the sidelines, leaving City with just three senior defenders available. "I don’t know what I have to do, " admitted Guardiola. "I need players. We have three, but we will see what happens. "Maybe some winger will have to play as a full-back or maybe we play with five at the back. We are thinking what to do. " Amorim, who beat City with his former club Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Champions League last month, insists he is not focusing on his opponent’s poor form. "I never think about these things, " he said. "We will face a great opponent and I’m more focused on our problems. "We have a lot of issues here, so I’m more focused on what we should do on Sunday to win the game. I’m really focused on my team. " Victory would make quite the statement to kickstart his reign. Short of time to sort your Fantasy team? Kelly Somers gives you the top picks, best team and more Or enter your details Incorrect email or password Your details have been submitted successfully. You have already entered this competition. Please check your email for further information. Your details have been submitted successfully.