The clash of fire and ice at Old Trafford

The resplendent stages in the world of 'beautiful game' always set a sense of flamboyant passion and emotion among the fans. Such a grandiose stage is certainly the stage where two clubs having their home grounds only four miles apart from each other face off. This is the clash between the historic and the trendsetting club from England's famous city of Manchester.

The sky of Manchester is often dubbed to be known as either red or blue. Rightly so for the rivalry between Manchester's two astonishing clubs named as Manchester United and Manchester City. Although the two clubs are in a city that is united, yet the atmosphere and the ambience is divided quite prolifically. 

The embellished class of Manchester United has been going on for decades and the class for the Red Devils certainly reached a peak of its own in the ongoing season as they have the service of one of the club's greatest heroes. Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford after twelve years but the fans never forgot their hero as he will again want to be influential against derby rivals. From the points of view of the Red Devils, the inclusion of Ronaldo in the season has sharpened their finishing in the final third with an impact in almost all the matches they won.

Contrastingly, the matchless excellence of Manchester City has been quite modern and the excellence for the Citizens has been quite on a path of inconsistent slope. While United have had their finishing touches sharpened, City lost their club's greatest striker, Sergio Aguero, just at the beginning of the season. With almost no proper finisher in the squad, the final third finishing woes have been a worry for the Citizens in many matches. 

Although the squad worries are there, Manchester City in the season have been the superior club over their counterparts in the city. Pep Guardiola's men are currently sitting on the third place of the Premier League while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Red Devils are just three points behind on the fifth place. 

The records speak in favour of the red part of Manchester as Ole has always had an upper hand over Pep. In the previous eight meetings of the two managers for their current clubs, Ole leads by 4-3 against Pep in terms of victories. However, recent form suggests Pep Guardiola might have an astounding result at Old Trafford as the Spaniard's club has been relatively better than the Norwegian's side.

Having won three of the last five Manchester Derbies, United will feel confident to host City at Old Trafford. But the humiliating loss by 5-0 against Liverpool in the same ground a couple of weeks ago will give City a mental advantage. 

Ole's Red Devils and Pep's Citizens have a huge task on their hands to offer at the Theatre of Dreams. The sky of Manchester has a colour to choose at the end of the day. The 75,000 fans in the stadium, alongside billions around the world, must feel extravagantly excited for a thriving clash between two arch-rivals. Old Trafford will decide if the fire of the dragon or the ice of the night walker have the final laugh.