Manchester City climbed back to the top of the Premier League table this afternoon courtesy of a 3-1 victory over local rivals Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium.
David Silva gave the home side the lead after just 12 minutes, and they got off to an even quicker start in the second half with Sergio Aguero doubling their advantage.
United threatened yet another comeback when Anthony Martial pulled a goal back from the penalty spot, but Ilkay Gundogan made sure of the points late on.
Find out how all of the action unfolded courtesy of our minute-by-minute updates below.
Both sides come into this match off the back of memorable European results in midweek, but as far as domestic matters go there is a huge gulf between the two so far this season. Even this early in the campaign this could be make or break for United's title hopes, which should add even more intrigue to a fixture which is always one of the highlights of the season.
We will have a closer look at both sides in a short while, but let's start by checking out the team news...
Well, the headline news from the hosts sees Sergio Aguero restored to the starting lineup despite Gabriel Jesus hitting a hat-trick in the midweek Champions League win over Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Argentine is the joint leading scorer in the Premier League this season with seven goals and has directly contributed to 22 goals in his last 13 Premier League games at the Etihad, scoring 17 and assisting a further five.
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Raheem Sterling is arguably City's form player at the moment, but has never scored a Premier League goal against United despite attempting 19 shots in 12 previous meetings. Among players with at least 50 Premier League goals, only Robbie Keane has played against United without scoring more often.
Guardiola has an embarrassment of riches up front, with all of his players in fine form, but there are fewer options in midfield with the absence of De Bruyne and the Spaniard keeps faith with the trio of Fernandinho, David Silva and Bernardo Silva today.
Stones and Laporte continue at the heart of the defence having seemingly established themselves as Guardiola's preferred duo, with Walker on the right and Ederson behind them as ever.
That injury has kept him out of United's last two outings, but he was dropped against Everton last month when he was most recently in the matchday squad and once again has to settle for a place on the bench today having gone nine games without a goal for his club.
The World Cup winner is replace in the starting XI by Marouane Fellaini, who makes up a combative midfield trio alongside Herrera and Matic as United look to unsettle City's creative playmakers.
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Anthony Martial is United's form player right now having scored five goals in his last four Premier League games, and another one today would see him join an exclusive club including Eric Cantona, Dwight Yorke, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robin van Persie as players to score in five successive Premier League games for United.
Pogba and Sanchez are the two players to drop out of that side, while there are four changes from the team which started against Bournemouth last weekend as Fred, Pogba, Mata and Sanchez all miss out.
City have been in brilliant form once again this season, and worryingly for the rest of the league it looks as though they might have even improved from their record-breaking success last season.
Indeed, despite dropping just four points all season so far, Guardiola's side could find themselves as low as third by the time they kick off today after Liverpool took top spot by beating Fulham earlier today and Chelsea taking on Everton at the moment.
It does not look as though City will win the title by as big a margin as they did last season - 19 points ahead of United in the end - but they are still very much the team to beat and continue to set the tone in England and Europe.
That run stretches back to City's solitary defeat of the season so far - a 2-1 home loss to Lyon on Champions League matchday one - but that will feel like a long time ago now. City come into this match on a run of six successive wins with just one goal conceded.
Gabriel Jesus helped himself to a hat-trick - including two penalties - while Silva, Sterling and Mahrez were all also on the scoresheet as City ran out 6-0 winners here at the Etihad - their biggest ever Champions League victory.
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Indeed, City are unbeaten in their last 53 Premier League games against teams who began the day outside the top four, stretching back to their 4-0 defeat at the hands of Everton in January 2017.
Since losing that title-postponing derby in April, City have taken 25 points from the 27 on offer at home in the Premier League and have conceded just once in the second half of their subsequent 18 Premier League matches here - after conceding three times in the second half against United.
Wednesday night's win over Juventus will go down alongside their 1999 and 2003 Turin triumphs, and rightly so as they came from behind with two goals in the final five minutes to win.
Comebacks and late goals have been the order of the day in recent weeks, with United recovering from a losing position to get points from four of their last six outings.
United have now picked up seven points from losing positions this term, but City are unlikely to be so forgiving if United make another slow start this afternoon.
Simply put, United cannot keep giving teams head starts in matches as their run of comebacks will run out sooner or later, and particularly against a team of Man City's quality.
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It means that today's match carries even more weight for United, who would surely be out of the title race once and for all with defeat and would also leave themselves with a huge amount of work to do to catch up with the Champions League places.
However, if they are to do that they they will need to vastly improve their defensive performances which have seen them concede a whopping 18 goals in just 11 Premier League games so far this term.
The current record for most goals conceded after 12 Premier League games is 20 in 2001, and the last time they conceded more than than was way back in 1966.
United cannot be ruled out of this match following their win in midweek and Mourinho loves to bloody the nose of rivals in these big games, but it is hard to look past City in this form. We're going for a relatively comfortable home win.
SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Man City 3-0 Man Utd
That includes the most recent edition of the derby, when United came from two goals down to win here at the Etihad in April, postponing City's title celebrations and claiming some minor bragging rights over their local rivals.
Indeed, the away team has won this fixture 17 times in the Premier League era, which is behind only Aston Villa vs. Liverpool and Everton vs. Manchester United for the most in the competition.
MAN CITY STARTING XI: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Laporte, Mendy; Fernandinho, Silva, Bernardo; Mahrez, Sterling, Aguero
MAN UTD STARTING XI: De Gea; Young, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw; Herrera, Matic, Fellaini; Lingard, Rashford, Martial
Sterling whips a vicious ball into the box which Bernardo does well to keep alive at the back post, knocking it back into the middle. Aguero is perhaps fouled, but it does not matter as Silva collects the ball and keeps his composure to fire a deflected effort past De Gea.
GOAL MAN CITY
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 11, 2018
David Silva fires home after Manchester United were pulled apart at the back.
Watch the Manchester derby live on Sky Sports Premier League or follow https://t.co/Z5qeYgAR6q📺⚽ pic.twitter.com/zC7OwglWTv
.@ManUtd concede opening goal for the 7th time in @premierleague this season. Only Cardiff (9 games) Fulham (9) and Crystal Palace (8) have conceded first in more games. pic.twitter.com/qRsydkmCjI
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) November 11, 2018
However, they have not pushed on as much as they threatened to in the opening stages of the game and United will feel that they are still very much in this match heading into the second half.
Sterling delivered the initial cross which caused the problems and Bernardo did well to keep it alive at the back post, cutting it back to Silva to fire home.
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United's only hint of a chance came when Smalling sent a head looping on to the roof of the net, but Silva's goal is the only shot on target we have had so far today.
De Gea's initial kick put his side in trouble as Lingard lost possession on the halfway line, allowing City to pour forward. Aguero exchanges passes with Bernardo in the box before then firing his finish in from a tight angle. De Gea may feel as though he could do better, but it was hit with such power.
Most @premierleague goals since start of October:
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) November 11, 2018
6 - @AnthonyMartial
5 - Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
4 - Alvaro Morata
4 - Callum Wilson pic.twitter.com/7uibxjEiQz
5 - Anthony Martial is just the fifth French player to score in five consecutive @premierleague appearances, after Thierry Henry (x3), Eric Cantona, Nicolas Anelka and Olivier Giroud. Cinq. #MUNMCI
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 11, 2018
Bernardo picks him out with a good cross into the box, and Gundogan has the time and space to take a touch before firing his finish past De Gea.
Goals from David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Ilkay Gundogan fire the champions back to the top of the Premier League table, whereas United could only muster a Martial penalty in response. Twelve points now separate the two sides after just 12 games!
Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for today's derby as City return to the top of the Premier League courtesy of a 3-1 win over United at the Etihad. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too.
From me, though, it is goodbye for now!
