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On Sunday, November 11, 2018, Manchester United will visit their neighbour's Manchester City's Etihad Stadium to contest the 178th Manchester derby in history.
Manchester United have won 73 of those clashes and Manchester City have been victorious on 51 occasions with 52 matches ending in a draw.
United and City jockeyed for position during the 1950's and the 1960's before United began to dominate proceedings over the subsequent decades, particularly in the 1990's and 2000's with Sir Alex Ferguson reigning as United boss.
When City's investment increased dramatically increased in summer 2008 when the club was taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group, the balance of power began to shift towards the blue side of Manchester. It is City who have been much more the dominant side during the 2010's.
Next weekend's encounter may not be as decisive or important as previous encounters with City sitting well above United in the 2018/19 Premier League standings, with United languishing seventh in the table, a full nine points behind front-runners, City. However, the forthcoming fixture will be just as intense as it always is and with Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, two of the most successful managers of this or any other generation in the dugout, there will be little doubt that the result will matter.
United and City both won one match each in 2017-18, interestingly, winning on each other's turf, with City victorious 2-1 at Old Trafford and United the victors at the Etihad Stadium, with a Paul Pogba inspired 3-2 win.
Should next Sunday's encounter provide one half of the excitement of those two matches, then Football fans the world over, will be in for a glorious treat.
In the following slideshow, SK looks at five of the very best derby matches in the long history of this famous fixture.
#5 Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City (October 23, 2011)
Manchester City inflicted Manchester United's worst home defeat since February 1955 as they thrashed the champions in ruthless fashion.
City were victorious on that occasion too, also winning by five clear goals as they ran out 5-0 winners, however, this victory proved decisive in proving that City were no longer in the shadows their more illustrious neighbours.
The 6-1 scoreline proved crucial in the 2011-12 title race. City won the title in the final minute of the Premier League season with an injury-time winner from Sergio Aguero defeating QPR 3-2. That victory placed City level on points with United at 89 apiece. City won the League with a superior goal difference of +8. Had the final score been 2-1 instead of 6-1 that deficit would have been wiped out.
It was the first time United had conceded six goals at Old Trafford since 1930, when they suffered embarrassing reverses versus Huddersfield Town and Newcastle United of 6-0 and 7-4 within days of each other.
United were dominant in the early stages as the visitors struggled to settle. However, it was City who took the lead through Mario Balotelli. United were reduced to 10 men immediately after the break when Jonny Evans was sent off which allowed the floodgates to open.
Balotelli notched a second on the hour mark and Sergio Aguero added a third before Darren Fletcher pulled a goal back.
United somewhat naively then committed almost their entire team forward, leaving massive gaps at the back for City's front line to exploit. Another treble of goals from Edin Dzeko (2) and David Silva ended the rout to send shockwaves reverberating around Old Trafford.
#4 Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United (April 6, 1996)
There have been few more memorable derby wins for Manchester United that this one.
Chasing down a long time, Premier League leaders, Newcastle United, the Reds crossed Manchester to Maine Road with the aim of closing the gap further on the Geordies.
Equally important to Manchester City who needed the three points for different reasons as they were staring relegation in the face after a woeful run of form saw them drop like a stone as they tumbled down the Premier League table.
United took the lead early after Denis Irwin was hacked down in the box and Eric Cantona coolly dispatched a penalty.
Mikhail Kavelashvili equalised on 40 minutes before Andy Cole immediately restored United's lead a minute later.
City, trailing 2-1 in the 74th minute, looked to have rescued a point when the substitute Uwe Rösler smashed an effort past Peter Schmeichel in the United goal.
However, it would be Ryan Giggs who had the last word with an outrageous strike from 25 years out that nestled in the top corner of the goal.
United went on to overhaul Newcastle to win the Premier League title and days later won the FA Cup Final versus Liverpool to secure their second Double.
City were relegated on goal difference.
#3 Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United (April 7, 2018)
The most recent derby match was one of the most memorable ever. Manchester City were already champions-elect having led the Premier League since September and there was little chance of them being caught, whatever the result of their clash with city rivals, Manchester United when the Red Devils rocked up to the Etihad Stadium in April 2018. In fact, victory would have confirmed City as Champions.
The match (and title) looked like it would be won at a canter by City as they raced into a 2-0 lead before halftime with goals from Vincent Kompany and Ilkay Gundogan.
However, in the second half, United stunningly put forth the kind of comeback, typical of Sir Alex Ferguson's reign as manager in a second half that reminded the red half of Manchester of their glory days.
The comeback was put in motion when Paul Pogba popped up to head in United's first on 53 minutes and the Frenchman followed up two minutes later with a well taken right-footed finish to silence the City fans.
United's travelling support already in good voice following Pogba's double exploded in song when Chris Smalling completed the turnaround when he steered in Alexis Sanchez's free-kick to earn the Reds an unlikely victory.
United had halted City's celebrations; for a couple of weeks at least and put the future Champions on notice, that United were not quite a spent force yet.
#2 Manchester City 3-3 Manchester United (October 27, 1990)
Five months prior to this October derby clash, Manchester United had lifted the FA Cup, when they defeated Crystal Palace following a replay, to earn the first silverware of Sir Alex Ferguson's reign as manager.
Entering the 1990-91 season, United were now a growing force as they looked to return the glory years of the 1950's and 1960's to the club.
United visited Maine Road in October 1990, hoping to vanquish memories of their previous visit in September 1989 when they were thrashed 5-1.
However, history looked like repeating itself when City earned a 3-1 lead through a David White brace and a 79th minute, Colin Hendry finish sandwiched between Mark Hughes's United goal.
With just 10 minutes left on the clock, however, United showed a never say die attitude that would become a staple of their play in later years.
United striker Brian McClair left the City defence for dead an neatly beat Tony Coton in the City goal with a little over five minutes of regulation time left.
Minutes later, McClair popped up again to nod home a United corner for a share of the spoils in a hugely entertaining encounter. It was a game City dominated but it was a snapshot of the future of United under Ferguson; they were a team who never knew when they were beaten.
#1 Manchester United 4-3 Manchester City (September 20, 2009)
Michael Owen's famous winner deep into stoppage time gave Manchester United a dramatic victory in the greatest derby encounter of them all.
Owen, on as a substitute for Dimitar Berbatov, pounced in trademark fashion to beat Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given to provoke scenes of frenzy at Old Trafford.
Former United star and then City boss, Mark Hughes was livid and demanded to know how the decisive goal could come six minutes into the reported four minutes of stoppage time. This Owen finish, provoked clarification of the law from that point on, as the given stoppage time was prefixed with "a minimum" instruction
Craig Bellamy looked to have earned City an unlikely point as they came from behind for the third time to level only seconds before the end of the 90 minutes.
This game had everything apart from quality defending.
Wayne Rooney put United ahead inside two minutes but any chance of a straightforward victory was extinguished moments later when former United forward, Carlos Tevez assisted Gareth Barry to score the equaliser.
Darren Fletcher restored United's lead with a header just after the break but it was Bellamy who scored his first goal of the game with a stunning 25-yard strike to make the scores 2-2.
Fletcher popped up again on 80 minutes to make the score 3-2 before the dramatic late show which capped the greatest derby encounter of them all.
