Pep Guardiola will face Manchester United for the 20th time in his managerial career when his Manchester City side play host at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The 51-year-old currently sees his team sitting at the top of the table, 19 points clear of their bitter rivals, who are fighting to stay in the top four.
Approaching his 15th year in management, Guardiola has enjoyed plenty of success wherever he has been, though the Spaniard has had mixed fortunes against the Red Devils over the years.
Ahead of the 186th Manchester derby, Sports Mole takes a closer look at Guardiola's managerial record against Manchester United.
Guardiola has faced Man United a total of 19 times as a manager, boasting a record of 10 victories, three draws and six defeats; only against Chelsea (21) has he locked horns with the same opponent on more occasions in his entire career.
Fifteen of the Spaniard's 19 encounters with the Red Devils have been as Man City boss, while he has also managed two games each for Catalan giants Barcelona and perennial Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich.
Guardiola's first-ever meeting with United was with boyhood club Barcelona back in May 2009 in the Champions League final held in Rome, with goals from Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o sealing a 2-0 win.
Two years later Barca faced United again in the Champions League showpiece event, this time at Wembley Stadium where Messi, Pedro and David Villa were all on the scoresheet as the La Liga giants won 3-1, with Guardiola claiming his 14th and final trophy with the club before taking a sabbatical.
The Spaniard then joined Bayern in 2013 and spent three years with the German club. In his first season, Guardiola's men were drawn against Man United in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, drawing the first leg at Old Trafford 1-1 in April 2014, before winning 3-1 at the Allianz Arena a week later.
Guardiola then had to wait until October 2016 before facing United once again, this time as head coach of their city rivals Man City. At Old Trafford, Kevin De Bruyne's opener and a strike from Kelechi Iheanacho put the Citizens in control, and despite Zlatan Ibrahimovic pulling once back for the hosts, City held on for all three points in the Premier League.
Just over a month later, Guardiola tasted his first ever defeat against the Red Devils, with a second-half strike from Juan Mata sealing a 1-0 home win for Jose Mourinho's men in the EFL Cup fourth round. Later that campaign, City and United played out one of only two 0-0 draws with Guardiola in the dugout.
Between 2017-18 and 2019-20, Guardiola had mixed success against United, winning and losing four games each. A famous 3-2 defeat at the Etihad in April 2018 – one of only two losses during their record-breaking 100-point season – saw United come from two goals down at half time to win and prematurely prevent City from lifting the title in front of their noisy neighbours.
Interestingly, Guardiola's City side have struggled on home soil against United and have preferred facing the Red Devils at Old Trafford. The Catalan boss has only won one of his six home matches against United when in charge of the Citizens and he heads into Sunday's fixture having lost each of the last three at the Etihad, all of which were against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side.
On the flip side, the Spaniard has won six of his nine Old Trafford encounters as City boss, including each of the last two by a 2-0 scoreline – an Eric Bailly own goal and a Bernardo Silva tap-in secured all three points for City in November earlier this season.
Guardiola will be looking to claim successive victories against Man United in any competition for the first time since 2018-19, when City did the double over their crosstown rivals with a 3-1 home win and a 2-0 success on the road.
Pep Guardiola's record vs. Manchester United:
Premier League:
Wins: 5 Draws: 2 Losses: 4
Domestic Cups:
Wins: 2 Draws: 0 Losses: 2
Champions League:
Wins: 3 Draws: 1 Losses: 0
