Man Utd vs Man City: Could Manchester derby signal shift in 13-year Premier League hierarchy?

Manchester United have not finished above Manchester City in the Premier League since Sir Alex Ferguson's final season, but Sunday's derby at Old Trafford could provide an early indication of whether that 13-year hierarchy is finally beginning to shift.

The numbers tell the story of Manchester's modern football landscape.

United were champions of England in 2012-13, Ferguson's final campaign in management. In every completed Premier League season since, City have finished above their neighbours.

There have been occasional challenges. United were runners-up to City in both 2017-18 and 2020-21, but the balance of power remained firmly on the blue side during Pep Guardiola's era.

Now both clubs are entering different phases.

Michael Carrick has given United renewed optimism after guiding them to third place and back into the Champions League last season, while Enzo Maresca has inherited a City side undergoing another significant rebuild.

City still arrive at Old Trafford as Premier League leaders after winning each of their opening three matches, while United have four points from nine.

Yet this derby represents something larger than the early table.

For United, it is an opportunity to discover whether last season's revival can become a genuine attempt to close a gap that has existed for more than a decade.

Carrick already knows what beating City at Old Trafford can do for his team.

His first match in charge of United last season came against their neighbours following Ruben Amorim's departure, and a 2-0 derby victory became the starting point for a run that eventually carried the Red Devils into third place.

That recovery restored Champions League football to Old Trafford after an absence dating back to the 2023-24 campaign and changed the mood around a club that had spent the previous season looking nervously towards the wrong end of the table.

United have subsequently strengthened Carrick's squad with targeted additions, including Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans, while Bruno Fernandes and Matheus Cunha remain central to their attacking plans.

The objective is not necessarily to reclaim Manchester supremacy overnight.

Carrick himself rejected the language of City's Elliot Anderson, who described his new club as the “kings of Manchester” after arriving at the Etihad Stadium.

“I'm definitely not using that phrase in any way,” Carrick said.

“We are humble enough and realistic enough to know where we have come from in recent history. We need and want to be better, and we want to challenge more.”

Even a United victory on Sunday would not erase 13 years of City finishing above them, but it would provide further evidence that Carrick's side are moving in the right direction.

Recent derby results already offer some encouragement.

Across the last two Premier League seasons, United have recorded two wins and a draw from four meetings with City.

Turning isolated derby success into superiority over 38 games remains the far greater challenge.

City, meanwhile, have little interest in surrendering the position they spent years establishing.

Maresca has begun his first Premier League campaign at the Etihad with victories over Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Coventry City, maintaining a 100% league record ahead of Sunday's trip.

A Champions League win against Porto has extended that perfect competitive start.

United will nevertheless represent Maresca's first Big Six opponent in the Premier League.

His only previous major domestic test came in the Community Shield, when City were beaten by Arsenal.

That makes Sunday's derby an important examination of how far his rebuild has progressed.

City have invested heavily since Maresca's arrival, while players such as Erling Haaland and Phil Foden still provide continuity with the club's dominant recent era.

Anderson's “kings of Manchester” remark also illustrates how deeply that dominance has become embedded in a generation of English players.

“The reason Elliot said this is because he grew up when Manchester City were dominant and had incredible performances,” the City boss said.

That dominance included six Premier League titles across the previous decade, as well as Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup success.

The new manager's task is to ensure that City's change of coach does not become an opportunity for their rivals to close the gap.

That is what gives Sunday's game added significance.

United cannot reclaim 13 years with one result, and City will not lose their status because of one defeat in September.

But if Carrick can beat his neighbours again while demonstrating that last season's third-place finish was the beginning rather than the peak of United's resurgence, the conversation around Manchester's football hierarchy may begin to sound different.

For the first time in years, the question would not simply be whether United can beat City in a derby, but whether they are beginning to build a team capable of finishing above them again.

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