Man City must fix worrying Manchester United trend under Pep Guardiola

Manchester City have not beaten Manchester United at home for over three years. Under Pep Guardiola, they have only secured derby bragging rights at the Etihad once in six meetings.

On Sunday, that trend must change if Guardiola wants to guide City to another Premier League title, with previous title challenges slightly derailed by defeats against their biggest rivals.

City know they are far superior to United in recent years - the league tables and contrasting trophy cabinets will illustrate that - but when it comes to head-to-head meetings, Guardiola appears to have a blind spot when it comes to derby day.

ALSO READ:Manchester derby underlines United's biggest failing in face of City excellence

In all clashes, Guardiola has seven wins from 15 derbies, but six of those have come at Old Trafford in nine visits. It's a strange quirk that the away side fares better in the last few years of this great rivalry, and one that will bother a perfectionist in Guardiola.

Confusingly, form often seems to go out of the window, too, with City not even able to rely on a decent recent run compared to United's faltering form under Ralf Rangnick.

City were dominant and ruthless at Old Trafford earlier this season, but were shocked last season as they fell to a 2-0 Etihad defeat to end their 21-game winning run and temporarily slow their procession to the title. The season before, two home derbies resulted in two defeats, with a 2-1 reverse in the league to leave City 14 points behind Liverpool, effectively ending their title hopes in December, while a 0-1 loss in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg was disappointing but the Blues still reached the final after a victorious first leg.

In 2018/19, City secured their only home derby