Premier League Preview: Is This the Most Eagerly Awaited Manchester Derby Ever?

The Premier League season is three games old, 270 minutes in. A good stew needs longer cooking time. Yet ahead of the 172nd edition of the Manchester derby, there is a palpable sense Saturday lunchtime’s game could somehow prove seismic.

Whether this is a result of the Premier League’s omnipresent hype-machine repeatedly smacking us over the head in the past fortnight with all the subtlety of Jerry introducing Tom’s whiskered chops to an oversized frying pan—or has a semblance of truth to it—is a matter of no little conjecture.

Less contentious is the fact Manchester United vs. Manchester City has the look of a game sent from heaven. This Is The One, indeed.

Paul Scholes has said the game could turn out to be a title decider. Given there will be 102 points still to play for after Saturday, it seems a tad premature to invite the Premier League’s official trophy engraver to Old Trafford.

At the same time, if the match leaves you cold it might be advisable to get checked out by a doctor for early signs of rigor mortis. According to the Telegraph, the 12:30 p.m. BST kick-off, should ensure it becomes the most watched live match in Premier League history. It is said the game has a “household reach” of a record 901 million, and will be broadcast live in all 190 countries that show the Premier League.

It’s a shame Scholes will be watching Salford City.

An international break for a Premier League junkie is the equivalent of going cold turkey, with the elongated build-up to the first Jose Mourinho versus Pep Guardiola battle on English soil having generated a fervour bordering on feverishness for all but the most evenhanded. One supporter even complained of experiencing visions of Sam Allardyce crawling across his ceiling carrying a drumstick, like the haunting baby scene in Trainspotting.

Thank inclement weather in Beijing over the summer for the fact the first Manchester derby in a bracing new era for both clubs will be played in the city of L.S. Lowry and Tony Wilson, as opposed to one visited for the sole reason of it having the deepest commercial pockets to pay for an (ultimately abandoned) pre-season friendly. The title of Andy Mitten’s exemplary essay Pep and Jose Chronicles Chapter 1—The World Looks to Manchester says it all, really.

It has been billed as the most expensive game in the history of football. UK broadcasters Sky Sports will be delighted, having reacted to the news of the Premier League breaking the billion pound mark in transfer fees over the summer as one might the birth of a first child. Maybe both captains will be presented with a commemorative plaque before kick-off.

The two sides expected to start are worth (a relative term) over £600 million in transfer fees. City’s possible line-up was assembled for a paltry £289.25 million, in comparison to United’s £328.1 million spend. And they say there’s no such thing as a bargain these days.

The Manchester derby could be the most expensive game of football ever played. £600m+