Ruben Amorim has Man United record in sight which Pep Guardiola can only dream of

Both Manchester clubs have had few things in common over the past decade.

Manchester City have won four Premier League titles in a row, while their rivals, Manchester United, have been unable to mount any sort of title challenge. City have won a domestic treble before winning a European one to match United's most dominant campaign under Sir Alex Ferguson in 1999.

The balance of power has definitely shifted in City's favour, even if they still lack the global support of their neighbours at Old Trafford. It says a lot about United's problems that even in City's worst season under Guardiola, they are still comfortably ahead of Amorim's men.

But even if the Reds are set to finish behind City in the Premier League for another campaign, they can still deal a serious blow to their rivals' ambitions of returning to the Champions League. Guardiola's side are engaged in a tight battle to finish in the top five which could play a crucial role in their hopes of challenging for the title next term.

Amorim will also be looking to preserve his excellent record against Guardiola. In four previous meetings across matches as Sporting Lisbon head coach and Man United boss, the Portuguese has won two, drawn one and lost one.

Of course, that record could have looked so different after December's derby when Amad scored two late goals to snatch a 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium.

And yet there is enough recent evidence to suggest that Amorim's tactics present some problems to Guardiola's system. City lost 4-1 at Sporting in November, with Amorim's team exposing City's defensive frailties, whetting the appetite of United fans for his arrival at M16.

The outlier in their matchups was City's 5-0 win at Sporting in February 2022. That was