One of world football’s biggest matches comes as both teams battle it out

For the first time in a long time, this Manchester derby will feature two Davids and no Goliaths.

Manchester City face Manchester United on Sunday in what has become one of the most famous rivalries in world football. But this clash takes on new meaning: for the first time in 16 years, neither team lives up to the fans’ expectations.

“We’re sad. I’m sad for the players,” Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said at a pre-match press conference on Friday.

Guardiola, a league winner widely regarded as the best manager in the world, is experiencing the worst form of his coaching career.

Manchester City, who have won six of the last seven English Premier League titles, have won just one of their last 10 games.

“We need to shoot more,” said Guardiola, whose side have been kept goalless in recent defeats against Liverpool, Tottenham and Juventus. “We have to defend better,” said the Catalan coach, who acknowledged his side’s shortcomings. “We have to avoid mistakes,” he added, with his side sitting fourth in the Premier League table ahead of this weekend’s fixtures.

Meanwhile, misery is more common in the other half of Manchester. Manchester United have not won a Premier League title since the retirement of legendary manager Alex Ferguson in 2013.

The team currently find themselves at a standstill in the Premier League table, 13th after a terrible start to the season under their former manager, Erik ten Hag.

Hope may be on the horizon for United following the appointment of hot-shot Portuguese manager Ruben Amorim. But Amorim’s new formation and playing style have produced sporadic results early on.

A disappointing draw against Ipswich Town in Amorim’s first game in charge was followed by a crushing 4-0 win against Everton in the subsequent Premier League game. The high did not last long as losses to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest turned delirium into depression for United fans.

“Both teams are struggling at the moment,” Amorim acknowledged at a pre-match press conference on Thursday. “I can’t live it as a normal derby as it should be, two big teams fighting for the title and it’s not at this moment,” said the 39-year-old coach.

Underlying Manchester City’s struggles is the injury to its star defensive midfielder, Rodrigo Hernández Cascante, commonly known as “Rodri.”

“We are playing this season without the best player,” Guardiola said on Friday about Rodri’s absence. The Spanish midfielder, who recently won the Ballon d’Or, an award given to the world’s best player, tore his ACL in September. He is ruled out for the rest of the season.

Manchester United’s problems are wider, as evidenced by their bottom half of the table. In its last two matches, its goalkeeper, André Onana, has made disastrous tackles, leading to easy goals for the opposition.

“We’re trying to build up a lot with the goalkeeper,” Amorim said of Onana’s latest mistake, which saw him pass the ball to the opposition in Manchester United’s Europa League win against Czech side Viktoria Plzeň. “We managed to help Onana like he did in the past,” added Amorim, dismissing the significance of the error in a game United eventually won.

Despite both teams’ troubling play in recent months, they share one glimmer of hope: their forwards. Manchester City’s star striker Erling Haaland still sits on top of the Premier League goalscoring chart. The Norwegian has scored 13 goals in 15 games this season.

Manchester United striker, Danish youngster Rasmus Højlund, has just two goals in the Premier League this season but has been finding the net in other competitions. Højlund has scored five goals in his last five games across all competitions, giving United much-needed firepower.

Before Manchester City’s takeover in 2008 from ultra-wealthy UAE royal Sheikh Mansour, Manchester United were the heavy favorites going into every modern Manchester derby.

After Ferguson’s retirement from United in 2013, City have been favourites.