United eye City scalp

LONDON. - Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City travel to Old Trafford for the toughest test of their English Premier League soccer title credentials so far, while new Everton boss Sam Allardyce bids to defy Liverpool’s “Fab Four” as the north-west derbies take centre stage tomorrow.

City are eight points clear at the top of the table and victory at their fierce rivals could realistically end Jose Mourinho’s hopes of landing the club’s first league title since Sir Alex Ferguson’s trophy-laden reign.

But while Manchester will be at the centre of attention on Sunday, up the road, in-form Liverpool host Everton in the season’s first Merseyside derby.

Elsewhere, third-placed Chelsea travel to West Ham, Spurs desperately need to end a four-game winless streak in the league and Arsenal will hope to prove that last week’s home defeat to United was only a blip.

Mourinho emerged from last week’s thrilling encounter at Arsenal with a 3-1 win even though the home side enjoyed 75 percent of possession and had 33 shots compared with United’s eight.

United were hailed for producing a counter-attacking masterclass, but they were also indebted to goalkeeper David De Gea, who pulled off a string of eye-catching saves.

But how will Mourinho approach the task of slowing City’s juggernaut - made all the tougher due to the suspension of midfielder Paul Pogba, who picked up a red card against Arsenal?

The United boss certainly has the resources at his disposal to trouble City, with an embarrassment of attacking riches including Romelu Lukaku, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and man-of-the-moment Jesse Lingard.

But few expect him to go toe-to-toe with City in a free-flowing game of football, which would be a huge risk against a team that have scored 46 goals in 15 games, with 13 consecutive league wins.

However, Manchester United goalkeeper De Gea is confident his side can put an end to Manchester City’s winning streak tomorrow.

City will equal Arsenal’s Premier League record of 14 consecutive wins with victory Old Trafford tomorrow, but head into the game on the back of a 2-1 defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League, their first since April.

United’s 2-1 win over CSKA Moscow on Tuesday levelled a club record of 40 games without loss at Old Trafford and De Gea believes his side can continue their impressive run tomorrow.

When asked whether United could stop City, De Gea replied: “Can City stop United? We play at home with the fans.

“It’s a derby, we have confidence, we feel really strong and we want to win.

“The team is in a good moment, we won two difficult away games, so we have confidence and we know we play an important game. We really want to win.”

Mourinho heaped praise on the Spaniard following last Saturday’s 3-1 win over Arsenal, labelling De Gea as the best keeper in the world after he made a league record 14 saves against the Gunners. De Gea admitted he felt unbeatable against Arsene Wenger’s side last weekend as he secured a league-high ninth clean sheet for the season ahead of City stopper Ederson in second with seven.

United head into Sunday’s game without midfielder Paul Poga, who was handed a three-match suspension after receiving a red card against Arsenal, and Juan Mata believes his side will miss the French international.

Liverpool have put their early-season problems behind them, topping their Champions League group with an avalanche of goals and climbing into the Premier League’s top four, with five wins in their past six top-flight games.

After their 4-1 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur in late October, the focus was on the side’s porous defence, but the “Fab Four” attackers have since dominated the narrative - with 46 goals between them this season.

Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Philippe Coutinho have formed a fluid and devastating attacking group, but they will come up against arch-pragmatist Allardyce, whose new charges are in the relative comfort of 10th after a tricky spell.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has pleaded with his free-scoring players not to get carried away after they hammered Spartak Moscow 7-0.

“We should not think it will be like this from now on until the end of our entire lives,” he said.

Tottenham, so long seen as the coming force in English football, suddenly look vulnerable after a disappointing run that has seen them pick up just two points from four outings.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side have slipped to sixth in the Premier League table, a whopping 18 points behind leaders Manchester City and they have a fight on their hands to stay in the hunt for a top-four place.

Stoke City are not the scariest of opponents, but they travel to Wembley after a morale-boosting win against Swansea City and with the knowledge that Spurs have struggled to put away lower-placed teams at their temporary home this season. The Argentine was impressed by the performance of his second-string players against APOEL Nicosia in the Champions League.

“To have more players with the confidence to compete for a place is important and will help the team a lot,” said the Spurs boss.

“Now we need to be focused on winning in the Premier League again. But this season I think has been a massive step up for us.”

(All 5pm unless otherwise stated)

West Ham United v Chelsea (2:30pm); Burnley v Watford; Huddersfield Town v Brighton & Hove Albion; Crystal Palace v Bournemouth; Tottenham Hotspurv Stoke City; Swansea City v West Bromwich; Newcastle United vLeicester City (7:30pm).

Southampton v Arsenal (2pm); Liverpool v Everton (4:15pm); Manchester United v Manchester City (6:30pm). AFP.