MU eye City derby scalp
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City travel to Old Trafford for the toughest test of their Premier League title credentials so far, while new Everton boss Sam Allardyce bids to defy Liverpool's "Fab Four" as the northwest derbies take centre stage on Sunday.
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 Alex Ferguson's reign.
But while Manchester will be at the centre of attention on Sunday, up the road Liverpool host Everton in the season's first Merseyside derby.
Elsewhere, third-placed Chelsea travel to West Ham and Spurs desperately need to end a four-game winless streak in the league.
Jose 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 -- made all the tougher due to the suspension of midfielder Paul Pogba?
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.
Liverpool have put their 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.