Man City up for Red Devils test

London, March 6: Manchester City have history in their sights as the runaway leaders bid to take a huge step towards the Premier League title in Sunday’s showdown with fading challengers Manchester United.

City are 14 points clear of United with 11 games left and victory in the derby would effectively end their second placed rivals’ faint hopes of catching them.

Pep Guardiola’s side have been so dominant since the end of last year that it is the landmarks they can shatter on the way to a third title in four seasons that now hold the greatest interest.

They are unbeaten in 28 games and will set a new club record if they avoid defeat this weekend.

That could be the first of many milestones to fall for City, who are on an English top-flight record run of 21 successive wins in all competitions.

The only teams from the top five European leagues ever to record longer winning streaks in all competitions are Bayern Munich (23) and Real Madrid (22).

City can edge closer to Bayern’s tally if they clinch a 16th successive Premier League victory this weekend, which would also take them to the brink of their own record of 18 consecutive Premier League wins, a mark shared with Liverpool.

Guardiola’s team are six wins short of equalling the world record for consecutive victories in all competitions by a top-flight side — set by Welsh team The New Saints in 2016.

City’s incredible run is all the more remarkable given their troubled start to the season.

When they were held to a 0-0 draw at United in December, they were a point behind their rivals in ninth place and the death knell was ringing for their title hopes. But, aided by some clever tactical tweaks from Guardiola, including the use of full-backs Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker as auxiliary attackers, they have been perfect since then.