Rarely, if ever, in the Premier League era can I recall a Manchester derby with both City and United in such turbulence.

But I would rather be in Pep Guardiola’s shoes than Ruben Amorim’s - and I expect City to prevail in Sunday’s shoot-out at the Etihad. During the week I read one pundit saying City fans were going through “hell on hell” after just one win in 10 games - although six titles in seven years is not my idea of hell.

Ask fans of clubs who have gone under, or those suffering difficulties like Reading, what hell really looks like. What I would say is that City’s team looks as if it’s aged very quickly.

One headline after their Champions League defeat by Juventus read ‘Old Lady 2, Old Men 0’ - and that may have been uncomfortably close to the mark. Sir Alex Ferguson aside, Guardiola is the greatest manager in Premier League history, but his squad clearly needs a rebuild - and I wouldn’t doubt his energy or desire to do it.

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But for Amorim, the scale of makeover required at United is already stark. For me, the surprise exit of sporting director Dan Ashworth, after the club made such strenuous efforts to headhunt him and pay for his release from Newcastle, was a sign of too many cooks at Old Trafford.

Part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been ruthless with job cuts and restructure of the club off the field - now they have to be ruthless in their reshaping of the squad. Amorim has already used 26 different starters to assess who suits his preferred 3-4-3 shape, and there aren’t many players who should feel comfortable about their prospects.

Rasmus Hojlund has made a good impression at No.9, Amad Diallo has done well, Mason Mount has looked good, and the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui, Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo look like important pieces of the jigsaw. But the rest, including all three central defensive places, are up for grabs.

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United are nowhere near ready to challenge for the title, and it will take Amorim two or three transfer windows to mould the squad into his system - if the funds are available and United can stay within profit/sustainability rules by selling players first. The new manager won’t be fooled by Thursday night’s late win over Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League. He’s got a huge job on his hands.

For once, United will go to the Etihad believing they have a real chance to upset the applecart because City are in an unfamiliar state of disarray. But I still fancy Pep will finish well above United in the table - and in the long term, the balance of power in Manchester will boil down to recruitment, where United have had a shocker for 10 years and City have rarely put a foot wrong.

No question: I would still prefer to be in Guardiola’s shoes than Amorim’s. This group of players will not win United the title under Amorim. If he sticks with them, he will eventually get the sack.

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