In past years this fixture would’ve been easy to call, a home win without a doubt but City’s newly acquired wealth and talent may finally swing the balance of power from red half of the City to the blue half of Manchester. Looking at the latest odds on Betfair United seem to be a very short price at (1.64) and City are a very generous (6.20), my money is on the draw at (4.40) considering that 4 of the last 8 derby games have ended this way. You could also look at the Asian handicaps market backing City with a 1+ start gives odds of (1.89).

The central defensive stalwart made his first league appearance of the season only last weekend, when the Reds impressively won 3-1 at Tottenham Hotspur. But Rio then reported a groin problem in training the next day and consequently wasn’t risked in Tuesday night’s Champions League victory over Besiktas.

“The only concern I’ve got is Rio,” said Sir Alex in his pre-match press conference. “He missed the game on Tuesday and he was out before the Spurs match. Only one game back after injury is a concern – he needs a run of games to be at his maximum. He did some running on Monday but he wasn’t right.

“He has to do some positive work in training if he’s going to make the game on Sunday. We hope he’s there because you want all your big players available.” If Ferdinand fails the fitness test then Jonny Evans will deputise once again.