Man Utd can END Man City's title defence despite continued struggles for consistency - Ruben Amorim has already proven he knows how to outfox Pep Guardiola

United's new manager has already changed the mood around Old Trafford, despite delivering very mixed results in his first month at the helm. Amorim inherited a squad sitting 13th in the Premier League, and four games later, they're still in the same position, with a 1-1 draw posted at relegation-fighting Ipswich alongside chastening defeats to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.

It's going to take time for the club to recover from Erik ten Hag's catastrophic reign, as Amorim has repeatedly acknowledged. "We are a massive club but we are not a massive team," the Portuguese said after watching his side go down 2-0 at Emirates Stadium last week. "We have to focus on the little details, then we will improve as a team."

That meticulous work on the training ground is paying off, to an extent. United are finally playing with a distinct identity again, with every move pre-meditated in Amorim's preferred 3-4-3 formation. The full potential of that system was unleashed against Everton on December 1, as the Red Devils romped to a 4-0 victory while implementing a relentless high press that ultimately overwhelmed Sean Dyche's team.

Improvement has also been seen in the Europa League, with United putting on another impressive attacking display to beat Bodo/Glimt 3-2 at home before seeing off Viktoria Plzen on Thursday night, with Bruno Fernandes, Amad Diallo and two-goal super-sub Rasmus Hojlund all shining in Czechia. Basic defensive mistakes still need to be cut out, but it's clear the players are fully behind Amorim, who is so far living up to his reputation as the best young coach in Europe.

United are still very much looking up at City, who are sitting eight points above their neighbours in the Premier League table. But by City's usual standards, this season has been a complete nightmare.

Guardiola's men are eight points behind leaders Liverpool having played a game more, and they've picked up just one win from their last 10 across all competitions. Incredibly, City have lost seven of those matches, including a 2-0 humbling at Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

In truth, they haven't been the same since losing Rodri to an ACL injury in a 2-2 draw with Arsenal at the Etihad in September. City have looked completely out of balance without the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner, as both Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes have struggled to fill the void in the middle of the pitch.

Versatile winger Oscar Bobb is another long-term absentee, while John Stones, De Bruyne, Foden, Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanj have also suffered fitness setbacks. But blaming City's form on injuries doesn't fly as an excuse for Guardiola considering the strength in depth at his disposal, with plenty of household names guilty of underperforming.

Erling Haaland has only scored four goals in his last nine appearances; woeful numbers for a striker of his calibre. The Norwegian has been largely drifting through games, but hasn't been helped by a lack of decent service, with City looking especially poor in wide areas. They've become far too predictable, with Jeremy Doku, Jack Grealish and Savinho having all failed to offer proper width.

Meanwhile, Kyle Walker has been a major weak link in the backline and Ederson's spot as No.1 goalkeeper has come under threat because of his erratic decision-making. City have reached the lowest ebb of Guardiola's tenure, and it remains to be seen if the Catalan coach can get them back on track.

Guardiola's general behaviour has also been a cause for concern. He claimed "I want to harm myself" when appearing in front of the media with several scratches on his face after seeing City throw away a three-goal lead against Feyenoord in the Champions League, which led to a backlash from mental health groups.

After a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield, Guardiola drew comparisons with football's ultimate wind-up merchant Jose Mourinho for making a six-finger gesture to the home crowd, in reference to his Premier League title haul at the Etihad. And after more European disappointment against Juventus, Guardiola bizarrely rubbished Ilkay Gundogan's assessment that City are suffering from a loss of confidence.

“I am not agreeing with Ilkay,” he told reporters. “Of course it is tough but, except one or two games in this period, we’ve played good.” Guardiola appears to be doing his best impression of Ten Hag, who constantly tried to play down United's obvious, deep-rooted problems.

City haven't played well for a long time now; Guardiola is deluding himself if he really believes otherwise. The 53-year-old signed a two-year contract extension at the Etihad last month, but he'll be lucky to see out the season if City carry on down the same path.

Guardiola's mask of composure has slipped. He's coming across more desperate with each passing game and uncertainty is raging in the City dressing room as a consequence, with Amorim likely to be smelling blood.

City went through their first 13 games of the season unbeaten, before being dumped out of the League Cup by Tottenham and losing for the first time in the Premier League away at Bournemouth. But the alarm bells really started ringing after their 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Sporting CP at Jose Alvalade Stadium on November 5.

Amorim's imminent departure to United had been confirmed in the days before kick-off, but he still had no problem motivating the Sporting squad in his final home game in charge. The Portuguese giants inflicted City's heaviest defeat since September 2020, with former Coventry City frontman Victor Gyokeres scoring a brilliant hat-trick to bag all the headlines.

However, the best goal of the game came from Maximiliano Javier Araujo, who finished off a beautiful team move that saw Sporting carve open City like a knife through butter. It was Amorim's philosophy coming to life in its purest form: quick, direct passing from back to front with players making intelligent runs away from their markers to open up space.

For the most part, though, Sporting sat deep, with their three-man defence becoming a back-five as they invited pressure. Amorim planned to kill City on the counter, and that's exactly what his team did. "When you lose 4-1 you have to congratulate Sporting and learn from that," Guardiola conceded. "We cannot argue - they won, they made good transitions, especially for two of their goals."

Amorim outfoxed Guardiola on the biggest stage, but warned United fans not to get carried away by Sporting's victory. "You cannot transport one reality into another," he said. "At Manchester United you cannot play exactly like this. You cannot play so defensively and so there we will have to adapt. Clearly it is really difficult to beat this team and to beat Pep Guardiola. And he is not a worse manager than me. It will be a completely different world, a different team, we won’t have that much time to train and we will begin from a different starting point. People can make their own judgements but I say to the people of Manchester that this was a one-off."

United won't get back to the top if they are just a counter-attacking team; Ten Hag, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jose Mourinho all learned that to their peril. Amorim has been demanding a possession-based style building out from the back since his arrival at Old Trafford, with United now aiming to break through the lines with vertical passes.

There won't be the same underdog mentality Sporting embraced when United face up to City this weekend. Just like they did against Arsenal, the Red Devils will try to control the tempo of the game and unsettle City from the first minute. And unlike Arsenal, City are just not equipped to cope with that kind of pressure at the moment, as evidenced by the fact they've conceded more goals than any other team in Europe's top five leagues since the start of November (21). United will get chances, and if they're clinical, it could be another long evening for Guardiola's out-of-sorts side.

Amorim was asked about his vision for United in the buildup to the Viktoria Plzen game, and gave a response that would have been music to the Old Trafford faithful's ears. "We want to take this club to winning the Premier League and to be an elite club like this club should be," he declared. "In this way, we have to make changes. Sometimes you make a slight change in direction to see the same goal, and we are focused on winning the Premier League. That is the main goal of this club."

Obviously, the title is already well beyond United this season, but Amorim is doing everything he can to raise the level of expectation at a club that, in the words of part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has become "mediocre". Piling more misery on City would be the first step in changing that.

City's latest Premier League defence will be effectively over should United leave the Etihad with three points. It would be a statement victory for Amorim that can really kick-start his revolution.

Amorim's "main goal" won't seem so far away if he can pull it off. United still have so much to prove in order to re-emerge as genuine contenders, but the new coach is giving fans reason to believe again.