Man City and Pep Guardiola have given Manchester United a glimmer of hope ahead of derby day

A week can be a long time in football and so four months can feel like a lifetime. It's fair to say a lot has changed since Manchester United and Manchester City last locked horns.

Back on that rain-drenched November afternoon at Old Trafford, United was left utterly humbled. The scoreline may not have been as embarrassing as the 5-0 drubbing handed to them by Liverpool just two weeks earlier but the home side's performance certainly was.

United were dominated from start to finish as they made less than half the amount of passes as their opponents, had just 32 per cent possession and only managed to muster a single shot on target.

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City only won by two first-half goals and it should have been a lot more but, if anything, the lowly scoreline cut even deeper because the Blues didn't feel the need to go for the jugular to make a statement as they did in the famous 6-1 win. Instead, they almost took pity on their neighbours and decided to see it out in comfort. Damning.

It would prove to be the penultimate nail in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's coffin and the final one came a week later when United were dealt a shocking 4-1 hammering at the hands of Watford.

Solskjaer was sacked and after three games of Michael Carrick manning the wheel, Ralf Rangnick came in on an interim basis. The German has done his best to make United more solid but the same problems persist. Trouble scoring goals, a slack midfield and a mentality as fragile as porcelain.

The fixture list has been kind to Rangnick thus far in that, aside from Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, he is yet to face any top-level teams. But his side haven't been