United v City: The numbers behind the Manchester derby

Manchester United welcome near neighbours Manchester City to Old Trafford on Sunday for the 175th derby clash between the teams.

The title race is the order of the day and Jose Mourinho’s men must look to trim the advantage enjoyed by Pep Guardiola’s side at the summit to head towards the second half of the season with renewed hopes of glory.

However, these have not always been the terms of battle in Manchester. Using Opta data, we trace the development of a famous old rivalry during the Premier League era.

Record men Rooney and Aguero lead the way

Over the past year, Wayne Rooney and Sergio Aguero have established themselves as the all-time leading scorers in United and City history.

It therefore comes as little surprise that no players have been more prolific during the modern history of the Manchester derby, with Rooney netting against City on eight occasions in the Premier League before returning to Everton during the close season. He also scored in the Toffees’ 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium in August.

Aguero’s seven goals put him level with Eric Cantona – City’s tormentor-in-chief during the Red Devils’ golden period in the mid-1990s.

WATCH Sergio Aguero won the Manchester derby for Man City with this superb individual effort #OnThisDay in 2013…https://t.co/dGktZiEZaK

— Premier League (@premierleague) April 8, 2015

Paul Scholes scored the only goal deep into stoppage time at the Etihad in April 2010 to bring up five league goals in the derby.

United duo Ruud van Nistelrooy and Andrei Kanchelskis hit four apiece. Three of the Russian winger’s haul came in a 5-0 demolition of Brian Horton’s Blues.

City strikers Niall Quinn and Edin Dzeko also have four to their name. All of Dzeko’s goals came in victories at Old Trafford, while Quinn never finished on the winning side.

Longest winning runs and losing streaks

United’s mastery of the Premier League at the end of the last century was reflected in derby-day dominance. Alex Ferguson’s side beat City seven times in succession between 1993 and 2000.

The Blues endured spells outside of the top flight towards the end of that run and a 3-1 victory in the final derby at their old Maine Road home in November 2002 represented a first win over United in more than 13 years.

#OnThisDay in 1994, Eric Cantona’s first-half double secured derby success for @ManUtd. More: http://t.co/bFZwANbYPB pic.twitter.com/tqeVui7BHJ

— Premier League (@premierleague) April 23, 2015

Between 2013 and 2014, as Ferguson’s glorious reign gave way to the less-celebrated tenures of David Moyes and Louis van Gaal, City were able to string together a Premier League best of four wins in succession.

Biggest results

The Kanchelskis-inspired rout in November 1994 remains United’s largest win over City in the Premier League. Later in the 1994-95 season they also eased to a 3-0 triumph at Maine Road.

An infamously attired Mario Balotelli set the ball rolling for the Blues’ thumping 6-1 win at Old Trafford in October 2011, the enigmatic Italian completing a brace before substitute Dzeko did likewise.

Kevin Keegan and Manuel Pellegrini both oversaw 4-1 derby drubbings during their time in charge of City, both on home turf.

Most appearances and a foot in both camps

Ryan Giggs’ incredible longevity saw him take in 29 Premier League Manchester derbies. Rooney and Scholes played in 21 each, with Rio Ferdinand racking up 20.

Despite his persistent injury struggles, City club captain Vincent Kompany has faced United on 15 occasions, once more than long-serving predecessor Richard Dunne and Joe Hart.

One of our best ever strikers..? On this day in 2009, we signed Carlos Tevez! #mcfc pic.twitter.com/JxWYJtWwLe

— Manchester City (@ManCity) July 13, 2017

Five players have represented both clubs in the Premier League. All of them were at the Red Devils first and only Carlos Tevez, with 113 appearances set against 63, played more times for their arch-rivals.

Peter Schmeichel, Andy Cole and Owen Hargreaves all spent a solitary season with United’s rivals, while Kanchelskis took in a late-career loan spell as City were relegated in 2000-01.

Pep v Jose 

A managerial rivalry that became one of the fiercest in football during their spells at Barcelona and Real Madrid, Guardiola and Mourinho will joust for the 20th time this weekend.

City’s 2-1 victory in the corresponding fixture last season was Guardiola’s eighth win over his old adversary, while United’s 1-0 triumph on the way to lifting the EFL Cup was only the fourth time Mourinho finished 90 minutes on top.

April’s drab goalless stalemate at the Etihad was the seventh draw shared by the duo.