Manchester clubs - Manchester United and Manchester City are leading the Premier League table with last season's Premier League Champions Chelsea trailing them.
An impressive start of the new season boosted morale in both teams. Both teams started off their season with great wins. Manchester United have scored 16 goals and conceded two, whereas their local rivals Manchester City have the same stats, scoring 16 and conceding two goals in five games.
United boss Jose Mourinho and City boss Pep Guardiola hold another rivalry as both managers were in Spain with Jose managing Real Madrid and Guardiola managing FC Barcelona.
Both managers have managed top teams in Spain's elite tournament, La Liga. At this time, both managers are locking horns in the English Premier League.
Why 2017/18 BPL looks to Manchester clubs?
Last season's Champions team, Chelsea, haven't been performing up to mark. They have already lost one game out of five played. Their most recent game, London derby against Arsenal was underperforming as they couldn't score a single goal and match ended at 0-0.
Their primary defender David Luiz was sent off by the referee in stoppage time of the game due to a foul on Arsenal's midfielder. Then, another defender - Gary Cahill - was sent off in the Blues’ first game of the Premier League. Gary Cahill is now playing after serving his suspension, but David Luiz will be unavailable for Chelsea's next three Premier League games due to suspension.
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has so many problems to sort out as soon as possible to defend his Premier League title. The Blues are currently in the third spot in Premier League with 10 points.
Other teams that can challenge Manchester clubs are Tottenham, Liverpool, and Arsenal. All these three teams are struggling to be consistent in performance.
Arsenal has only won two of their last five Premier League games. Their last game against Chelsea was quite impressive as they managed to subdue aggressive Chelsea in the London derby. The match was one of their best performances so far in this Premier League season.
Liverpool is in the same boat with Arsenal as they have only won two of their last five Premier League games.
Liverpool showed a great team performance in their game against Arsenal which they won by 4-0. But ironically Liverpool lost their next game against Manchester City by 5-0. Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp isn't happy with his defensive line and is struggling to maintain a good team form.
Meanwhile, another title contender team, Tottenham Hotspurs, is also showing a fluctuating performance in the Premier League. They have won as many games as Arsenal and Liverpool. The only difference is Tottenham have a tough Premier League start with a tight schedule.
Except for these 3-4 teams, no teams look to compete with Manchester Clubs and go for the title race.
Jose Mourinho v Pep Guardiola
Mourinho and Guardiola met 11 times in El Clasico, played between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Guardiola won 5five of them, while Jose won two. Four of them were goalless draws. Clearly, Pep Guardiola comes out on top with these stats.
Their recent encounter, Manchester United vs. Manchester City was played in the International Champions Cup. United registered a 2-0 win over their local rivals.
Manchester United vs. Manchester City
Man Utd vs. Man City is also a great rivalry in England. The whole stadium erupts with chants and anthems when the teams come face to face. Man City wasn't a very visible team in the Premier League between 2000-2010. But managers like Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini helped Man City to turn from an obscure team to an emerging team during 2010-2013.
Man City thrashed United in the 2011/12 season by an impressive 1-6 win at United’s home ground, Old Trafford.
That was United's worst ever defeat by their local rivals. Now Man City are no more a so-called small team in England. Man City won two Premier League games between 2010 and the current year, and have played in the Champions League almost every year.
It'll be exciting to see how both teams and managers perform this season in the Premier League as well as in Champions League. It will be entertaining to see who lifts the 2017/18 Premier League trophy and who goes farthest in the 2017/18 Champions League.
