Before the Manchester Derby, City forward Raheem Sterling was praised extensively by his manager Pep Guardiola. Friday bright the announcement of the England international inking a new long term contract extension with the club, and Guardiola defending his polarizing player against all the different types of criticism that has been leveled against the winger over the course of his career.

So what does Sterling go out on do on Sunday? Pointlessly showboat towards the end of a hyped up derby match where emotions were already running high. Manchester City beat Manchester United very handily today, with the 3-1 score not quite doing justice to the one-sidedness of the affair.

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Manchester City absolutely dominated crosstown rivals United in the Manchester Derby today, spotlighting the big gap that currently exists between the two clubs right now. After the 3-1 loss, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho made a bunch of excuses for his side’s no show on Sunday, with mental and physical fatigue right at the top of the list.

He also scapegoated the fixture schedule and said that City were at an advantage because they had won their previous matches by such a lopsided margin and were thus at ease.

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Another boring, tedious international break will soon be here (well, the Wayne Rooney Foundation International is an interesting story line), but before it arrives we still have a blockbuster of a Manchester Derby. At halftime, Manchester City are up 1-0 on Manchester United, thanks to a 12′ goal from David Silva.

Here are some of the news and notes surrounding the headliner fixture of this Premier League weekend.

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Another dull boring international break will soon be upon us (well, the Wayne Rooney Foundation International is an interesting story line), but before it arrives comes a blockbuster of a match, the Manchester Derby. Here are some of the news and notes surrounding the headliner fixture of the Premier League weekend.

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It’s an absolutely enormous Manchester Derby at the Etihad on Sunday. Visiting Manchester United, nine points adrift of league leaders Manchester City, can get back into the Premier League title race with a victory. City can effectively eliminate, more or less, one of their big six rivals with a win. United have made a strong comeback from an atrocious start, but falling 12 points behind would be a really tough mountain to climb.

The two teams have met 42 times prior in the Premier League, with United taking 21 of those matches, City 13. The two Manchester clubs have split the points on eight occasions.

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Manchester United were the last team to go into the Etihad and secure a victory in Premier League competition. That win, last April, prevented Manchester City from celebrating the title at home, directly in front of their bitter rivals. Of course, the result was moot in the long run as City would go on to win the Premier League title by a record margin, and set numerous other PL records in the process.

The defending champions enter Sunday’s Manchester Derby once again on top of the table, and once again looking like the overwhelming favorite to win it all. On the other side, United are brimming with confidence after having just won 2-1 at Juventus in Champions League play Wednesday night. Juve are the favorites to win that competition, so that victory was indeed huge.

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Happy Manchester Derby weekend! Manchester United Manager Jose Mourinho met the media a few hours ago to preview this weekend’s huge clash across town at Manchester City.

We have video of the entire media session for you here below via YouTube.

There were a whole host of topics covered in the Mourinho news conference, including the club’s current ambitions for the season, where they ultimately want to be, whether or not United (and the rest of the league) are operating on a fair playing field with City, Romelu Lukaku’s fitness and much much more:

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There is no doubt as to who won the pre Manchester Derby press conferences, and what Q&A was the most entertaining. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola met the media a few hours ago to preview the derby, and a reporter brought up recent comments made by Dani Alves, who played under Guardiola at Barcelona.

Alves said that Guardiola’s coaching was better than sex, and when asked about these remarks, the City boss answered: “I prefer the sex!” The exchange prompted boisterous laughter from the room of journalists, and you can see the back and forth in the video below around the 16:30 mark.

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Sunday will see the first of the two Manchester Derby matches this season kick off, and in recent years it’s become an affair that truly embodies the phrase “circle the date.” Manchester United, sitting in seventh place and nine points off the top of the table, will head across town to battle league leaders and defending champions Manchester City.

Let’s take a look at the injury and fitness situation for both teams, starting with the visitors.

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