This afternoon, in the late kick-off and played out in front of an audience of millions, courtesy of live coverage on Sky Sports, Manchester United make the short trek to the Etihad Stadium to take on their near-neighbours, City.
After the late win, against Juventus in Turin, confidence should be sky-high in the Manchester United camp as they contemplate what I believe is the most important fixture of the season so far.
The gap between the current leaders, City, and United is nine points, common sense tells me that if United lose today that gap will increase to twelve points, a gap that will be insurmountable, leaving United’s title challenge effectively over and it is still just November.
Perhaps United will take extra confidence from the game last season when, as often seems to be the case these days, they came from behind to register a memorable win, does lightning strike twice at the Etihad?
With the kick-off almost upon us, we are now in a position to reveal the line-ups selected by Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, for you to peruse.
Starting with our hosts and the current Premier League title holders, Manchester City:
How we line-up in the 177th Manchester Derby! ????
City XI | Ederson, Walker, Stones, Laporte, Mendy, Fernandinho, Silva (C), Mahrez, Bernardo, Sterling, Aguero
Subs | Muric, Kompany, Gündogan, Delph, Sané, Jesus, Foden
Presented by @HAYSWorldwide ⚽️ #MCIMUN #mancity pic.twitter.com/p07uaAz0aB
— Manchester City (@ManCity) November 11, 2018
Continuing with Manchester United:
???? In the red corner… #MUFC #MCIMUN
Live updates in our official app: https://t.co/r3dIT9LyM6 pic.twitter.com/LEZyM1sXl1
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) November 11, 2018
Let the battle commence.