Why Manchester City v Manchester United is the best derby

7Dec 2012

Premier League

With the Reds and the Blues at the top of the table once again, the Manchester derby is now Britain's greatest derby. Do you agree? Read the article and tell us below...

In 2011/12, matches between them produced 18 goals, one club were crowned champions and the other runners-up in the Premier League, thanks to an injury time strike on the final day of the season. Now they're first and second in the table again, and they boast the most exciting attacks in the land. Ahead of Sunday's showdown, it's fair to say that Manchester City v Manchester United is Britain's greatest derby.

Celtic v Rangers used to transform stadiums in to cauldrons of partisanship, while Liverpool v Everton often brimmed with good football and goodwill. However, the Old Firm derby is unlikely to be played for at least three seasons and the Merseyside showdown has become a dour, mid-table affair. With rivals on the south coast and in the second city currently in separate divisions, and the north-east teams playing turgidly, only Arsenal v Tottenham rivals City v United for goals and drama.

It wasn't always the way. United fans enjoyed taunting City during their trophy-less decades while the Blues occasionally raised themselves for splendid victories, such as the 5-1 in 1989 and 4-1 in 2004. However, United's real battles were on Merseyside, in west Yorkshire and London; when they were taking on the might of Barcelona or Juventus or Bayern Munich, and hoisting trophies aloft in the May sunshine, tussles with their inglorious neighbours were an irrelevance.

Take Roy Keane. In 2001 when he made his horrific challenge on Alf Inge-Haaland, the United captain was out to avenge himself against the Norwegian, but he was also frustrated about getting knocked out of the Champions League three days before. That Keane was willing to leave his team with ten men in a 1-1 against their local rivals suggests that he wasn't taking the derby seriously.

Of course, there were four seasons when there was no derby because City were playing outside the top flight. In 1999, when United achieved their Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble, City were winning promotion to the second tier of English football.

Then the billions poured in to east Manchester in 2009. That season, however, United still won both derbies as well as a third consecutive title. City made a significant statement of intent the following summer when they signed Carlos Tevez, stoking animosity with the notorious Welcome To Manchester billboard on Deansgate. Ferguson declared his intention to silence his "noisy neighbours" and went on to say that City would eclipse United over his dead body.

Under Roberto Mancini, the Blues made considerable progress in 2010/11. They beat United in an FA Cup semi-final, going on to defeat Stoke which meant the Stretford End banner that counted the time since City's last silverware had to be taken down. When they thumped United 6-1 in their own backyard six months later, the consensus was that the balance of power had tipped. But you know the motto: never write off Sir Alex Ferguson. Weeks later, United flew out of the blocks in an FA Cup tie at the Etihad, beating City to banish the trauma. The Reds also regained title race momentum, going odds-on before bizarre end of season results - losing at Wigan, drawing at home to Everton - let City back in. Then came: "Aguerrrrrrooooo!"

Last season, this fixture yielded a single goal but that was a tense run-in affair and, at this stage, there's good reason to expect goals. As well as the 6-1, the other matches between the teams in 2012/13 ended 3-2. Both sides have four excellent strikers - Mario Balotelli, Edin Dzeko, Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez for City; Javier Hernandez, Danny Welbeck, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie for United - and, while City haven't been as clinical as anticipated, their opponents are devastating.