The Man City v Manchester United live stream has put forward a situation where the city’s two leading clubs have never been closer in terms of quality in the English Premier League than ever before. It is hard to remember past instances when both teams have had little to choose between them. It has happened before in terms of Manchester City being one of the best clubs in English football but it has been rare and would need the help of historians to dig out the facts. The club has allowed its fans to suffer for much too long. Most of the time, each season would come with great fanfare at the start and raised expectations, but always end in bitter disappointment. That could all be consigned to the past if recent indications are anything to go by. Now helmed by Middle Eastern wealth, Manchester City can back up their previously unfulfilled ambition with limitless finances that has sent ripples throughout the football world. No player is beyond the club and no transfer too expensive. If they can finally persuade the best players to take up their offer to join the club, it could be possible that City become the next club after Chelsea to successfully buy their way to success in football. With one final hurdle set to fall this season with Champions League qualification, more quality players could now be tempted to join the City revolution.

It is difficult to ascertain if Manchester United have gone into their death throes of late. Manchester United are still the undisputed kings of English football in the last twenty years. It is difficult to ignore history and current achievements. It also cannot allow one to ignore the noticeable lack of progress that United have shown in the past year. The veteran players are becoming increasingly unreliable as they get on in years. Young and exciting players brought in to replace them eventually have failed to step up to the plate apart from Wayne Rooney. Ferguson has also tended towards a system and pattern of play that favours hard tackling and containment, instead of the attacking flair that previously characterised his previous teams. The end result is one of the most open English Premier League title races in years as Manchester United are unable to stamp their authority.

The 159th Manchester derby will provide many interesting confrontations and angles. Grabbing the headlines even before the match has been played is Argentinian striker Carlos Tevez. Manchester United fans will still have fond memories of Tevez playing for the Red Devils just last season. A protracted transfer saga unfolded before Tevez was rejected by United when he was offered as a permanent signing. The Argentinian signed for City and has enjoyed a great season ever since, scoring 20 goals and making United’s decision look like a moment of folly. In order to soothe his ego, Tevez has been determined to show Ferguson that he was wrong to undervalue him in public. Wayne Rooney is likely to play second fiddle although his return from injury has already been cause for celebration for the Red Devils. Since his enforced absence through an ankle injury, the club has looked inferior in every aspect. With the Premier League title race coming down to the wire, his presence will be needed more than ever regardless of the club now recognised as a one-man team.

Manchester City have set Champions League qualification as a mandatory objective in the first stage of their revolution and neighbours Manchester United have the same goal as previous seasons - becoming champions once again in domestic and European football. There will be nothing like joining the rest of the elite clubs in the world and having a go at them for the upstarts from City. Being party to the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, United and Chelsea would be attractive enough to convince other footballing stars to join the club for a shot at the big time. That is just the type of situation the owner of Manchester City planned for when he agreed to spend his vast fortune on the team and new players. United have set their sights on writing themselves into the history books by claiming to be the sole club in English football that has won the most honours domestically. They currently share the joint honour with Liverpool as both clubs have been crowned champions 18 times each. That has been the reason for Ferguon’s burning desire to ensure the team wins the Premier League this season so that he can finally truly knock Liverpool off their infamous perch.