Preview: Manchester United vs. Manchester City

When the fixture list was revealed last year many would have picked out Monday's meeting of the two Manchester clubs as pivotal to this year's Premier League title race.

Whereas last year the battle between United and City came right down to the wire, in 2012-13 United have run away and look nailed on to reclaim the Premier League crown.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side are 15 points clear of their rivals in blue, who are more aware of the sides below them than the Red Devils above with Spurs just five adrift in third.

Despite the gulf between the teams this season, City will have fond memories of their last trip to Old Trafford back in October 2011 when they annihilated United 6-1.

Since then, the two sides have met on three occasions at City's Etihad Stadium and United have won two by a scoreline of 3-2, including the reverse fixture in December when Robin van Persie memorably struck a 90th-minute free kick to win it.

Roberto Mancini should be able to start Sergio Aguero on Monday after the Argentinian came off the bench against Newcastle last time out.

On the right of midfield, James Milner and Samir Nasri look set to battle for a starting role and Mancini could opt for Milner's energy over Nasri's trickery.

For the home side, Ferguson could pick Nemanja Vidic despite the fact that the Serbian hasn't trained ahead of the game.

Antonio Valencia is also vying for a starting spot after featuring heavily in Monday's FA Cup defeat at Chelsea.

Recent form

United: LWWDLW

City: WLWWWW

Possible starting lineups

United: De Gea; Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Valencia, Cleverley, Carrick, Kagawa; Rooney, Van Persie

City: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Nastasic, Clichy; Milner, Barry, Toure, Silva; Aguero, Tevez

Sports Mole says: 2-2