There is no pleasant way to experience losing a Manchester derby and seeing your opponents celebrate a league title as a result. But if that scenario unfolds on Saturday at the Etihad, the pain will be doubly intense for Manchester United.

Even if most people tipped City at the start of the season, United were supposed to be legitimate title contenders under Jose Mourinho. But they have been utterly outclassed. It isn't just the fact that City could be 19 points clear by Saturday evening, or that they could be the first Premier League team to break through the 100-point barrier. It's the massive gulf in terms of the quality of football on offer.

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It would really hurt if that superiority was confirmed on Saturday by City sealing the title, but the pain has been felt for a while now. There is simply no avoiding just how much better United’s rivals have been this season. There is a huge gulf in quality between the two teams.

City have stuck to Pep Guardiola’s principles and it has been an almost perfect campaign. It's particularly impressive as so many people said it wouldn't be possible to win the league like this; it wouldn't be able to replicate the Barcelona style in England. All the sceptics said the English winter and physicality wouldn't allow it. But Guardiola has made us rethink everything. He is a genius.

The way the game has evolved has helped him as in the early years of the Premier League you wouldn't have been able to get away with it. His playmakers would have been kicked in the knee. But top players can now express themselves how they wish and we have seen City indulge that brilliantly.

It has been galling for United to see City praised from all quarters for the style of their play. It is United who are supposed to have the pedigree of attacking football but instead it's their rivals who are hailed every week for taking the game to new heights. Everyone is talking about how great City are, not United.

Still, that's not to say they are invincible. Liverpool showed what can be done if you go out and proactively attack City with their 3-0 win in the Champions League, following up the 4-3 win they had in the Premier League too. Some people have been saying that United need to follow a similar model at the weekend. But it simply won't happen.

It isn't in Jose Mourinho's make-up to go to a place like the Etihad and attack a team of City's calibre. It goes against every instinct he knows. But if you go there and sit back you will get nothing. That's been shown time and time again in the Premier League this season.

Jose Mourinho the Manchester United manager Image credit: Getty Images

With the quality of player United have, there's really no excuse not to go out and attack. They aren't a small club with bad players. But we know when it comes down to it, they will play within themselves. Mourinho just isn't the kind of manager to take the kind of approach which would stand a chance of stopping City. And that’s what he needs to do. Nothing can stop City winning the league but it will be a minor point of pride for United to stop them doing it this weekend.

There's been talk that United might get a helping hand if City choose to rest players in an attempt to throw everything into the second leg against Liverpool. But it won’t be a problem if Guardiola does rest a few players: they have a good enough squad to cope with the test of United coming to the Etihad and the system is so well established that it will be seamless for the players coming in.

It's slightly bizarre that a Manchester derby of this magnitude could be seen as a distraction for City as they prepare for the real test in trying to overturn their terrible 3-0 defeat in the Champions League in midweek. But maybe there's an element of mind games, lulling United into a false confidence. I don't think Guardiola will be taking lightly the chance to beat United at home and wrap up the league title on April 7.

City have shown weekend after weekend that they are by far the best team in England – as hard as that might be for United to stomach.

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