Manchester City arrive at Old Trafford on Sunday with nine points from nine and a manager still being measured against the man who left. Manchester United arrive with four points, eleventh place, and a fortnight of international football to think about how badly the first three weeks went. The 15:30 BST kick-off is the first Manchester derby of the post-Guardiola era, and it lands at a strange moment for both clubs.
Maresca has not put a foot wrong yet
Enzo Maresca took the City job on 29 June, five weeks after Pep Guardiola announced he was stepping down. The appointment raised eyebrows. Maresca had spent two seasons at Chelsea and won a Championship title at Leicester, but replacing a manager who spent a decade rebuilding a football club in his own image is a different job entirely.
Three games in, City have won all three and conceded twice. Erling Haaland has scored twice. Rayan Cherki has scored twice. The 4-1 win at Selhurst Park on 28 August is still the biggest away margin anyone has managed this season, and the summer arrival of Enzo Fernandez for a joint-British record fee has given Maresca a midfield that can hold the ball in tight games. None of that settles the question of whether he can keep this going across thirty-eight matches, but it does mean he walks into Old Trafford without having to explain anything.
United's three weeks have been all over the place
Michael Carrick's side opened with a 2-0 defeat at Hull City, which nobody had on their card. Then came the 5-2 win over Ipswich Town at Old Trafford on 30 August, a game United trailed before Bruno Fernandes scored a hat-trick and dragged the scoreline somewhere respectable. That afternoon drew 74,148 through the turnstiles, the biggest crowd in the division so far.
Fernandes is the joint leading scorer in the Premier League with three. He is also a captain who keeps having to bail out the team he leads, and the pattern is familiar enough at Old Trafford that supporters have stopped finding it reassuring. Last Sunday at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, United led twice through Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko and still walked off with a point after Ainsley Maitland-Niles curled in a 96th-minute equaliser for Everton. Two points dropped in the last four minutes is not the preparation Carrick wanted.
What the history says, and what it does not
United beat City 2-0 at Old Trafford in January, and across the last five meetings between the clubs United hold two wins to City's one, with a draw and a Community Shield fixture that finished level. That record has been a comfort blanket for United fans through some grim league seasons, and derbies rarely respect the table.
But the gap between these squads is wider than the gap in the standings suggests. City have a settled spine and a striker in form. United are still assembling one after a summer that rebuilt the entire midfield. If Carrick can get Fernandes on the ball between the lines and force City into a scrappy afternoon, there is a version of this where Old Trafford makes it uncomfortable. On current evidence the more likely outcome is that City leave with three points and a healthy cushion at the top.
Match facts: Manchester United v Manchester City, Premier League, Old Trafford, Sunday 13 September 2026, 15:30 BST. City: played 3, won 3, 9 points, top of the table. United: 4 points, eleventh. Last meeting: Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City, January 2026.
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