Andre Onana's departure is latest sign of the official start of Ruben Amorim's revolution

Despite the hullabaloo that has accompanied Manchester United’s modern-day struggles, it should be no surprise if the derby goes their way at the Etihad today. After all, Pep Guardiola has managed to win only four of his nine Premier League home fixtures against United. Pep has lost four of those games, with one drawn.

As City manager, his overall record against United - who have had five different, official managers during Guardiola’s Etihad tenure (if you count Ralf Rangnick’s six-month spell as official) - is good.

But, in the context of City’s all-conquering era, it is not startling. In all competitions, City have faced United 25 times since Guardiola took over in the summer of 2016 and have lost nine of those matches, winning 13 and playing out three goalless draws.

Only against Liverpool and Spurs have Guardiola’s City suffered more defeats (10). And Guardiola’s record against Ruben Amorim is underwhelming, having won only one of their five meetings, drawing two and losing two.

Both United and City have made unconvincing starts to the season, Amorim’s team a point ahead of their local rivals. United have created plenty of chances but still look limited in the goalscoring department while City’s defensive vulnerability - which emerged quite emphatically last season - remains there for all to see and exploit.

So, while bookmakers have City as favourites for the latest edition of the Manchester derby, it is a very tough one to call. And also, it would probably be unwise to read too much into the outcome.

After all, despite United’s good record at the Etihad in the Guardiola years, City have won six Premier League titles in that timespan. Getting a home beating at the hands of United has rarely knocked City out of their successful stride.

But a win for United in this latest encounter WOULD carry extra significance. By any means, it has not been a spectacular start to the current campaign but given he joined when a grim season was already well underway, this feels like the real beginning of the Amorim regime.

The departure of Andre Onana, who has gone on loan to Trabzonspor, is starkly symbolic as the goalkeeper was one of the previous regime’s flagship signings. In contrast, for all the transfer business done by City in this year’s two transfer windows, perhaps the most significant move in or out of the Etihad in 2025 was the departure of Kevin de Bruyne.

He was a flagship player of the entire Guardiola-City era. And of all the incomings, it is still hard to pinpoint one as a certainty to follow in the influential footsteps of serial winners such as De Bruyne.

It still takes a huge leap of imagination to see this season marking the decline of Pep’s Premier League powers and the emergence of Amorim’s excellence. But another United victory at the Etihad would certainly bring that scenario an unlikely step closer.

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