Premier League Weekly: Derby Day - Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho go head-to-head in Manchester and can Big Sam get one over Jurgen Klopp on Merseyside?

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. (Richard Sellers/PA Wire)

PREMIER LEAGUE WEEKLY returns with a bang.

Two massive derbies dominate the landscape tomorrow in Manchester and on Merseyside.

Liverpool and Manchester City have the Champions League and each other on their minds, while Everton and Manchester United will be lying in wait for an ambush. It promises to be a Super Saturday.

Should Pep stick or twist with history in the making?

IF it was any other team, there would not be a decision to make. Sandwiched in between the two legs of the Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool, Pep Guardiola would be contemplating wholesale changes for tomorrow’s Premier League game, with the title already within touching distance.

But it is not another game. It is a Manchester derby against United, managed by Jose Mourinho. Not only do City have the chance to wrap up the title with six games to spare, they could do it in the sweetest way possible by beating their biggest rivals in front of their own fans at the Etihad Stadium.

It would be a moment etched in Manchester footballing folklore and that is a difficult carrot to ignore. Just think in none of Sir Alex Ferguson’s 13 title successes did United have the chance to win it in such a sweet manner (granted, City were not in the same division for three of those titles).

It’s also fair to say that City’s Champions League hopes are dangling by a thread after that 3-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday. That first-half blitz which saw Jurgen Klopp’s men net three times in 19 minutes means City will need something very, very special on Tuesday to turn it around and the odds are very much against them.

Jose Mourinho, Manager (Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Guardiola may think that he needs to rest all his star players ahead of that second leg so they have the energy needed to produce a herculean effort. However, confidence will have been dented by events at Anfield as Liverpool produced the blueprint of how to defeat this City team, and surely Mourinho and United will have been watching on with interest.

But great teams normally respond positively to a setback. That is what City’s class of 2017/18 should be determined to do. Surely the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva will be smarting after events at Anfield and will want to show why they are justifiable contenders to be Footballer of the Year. If City could beat United and claim the Premier League title at the earliest ever stage, good vibes and a feelgood factor would sweep around the Etihad and supporters would bring that back on Tuesday night.

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Guardiola is also a realist, though. He will see that after a trip to Wembley to face Tottenham, City finish the league campaign with five matches against teams currently situated between 13^th and 18^th in the table and City would surely be capable of acquiring the two wins they need from that set of fixtures. The Premier League is close to being won after the excellent work carried out over the previous 31 games, but the Champions League is the club’s ultimate ambition.

The question that City fans will wonder is can they do both. Can they beat United and then turn it around against Liverpool? If they manage that, then it could be the best few days in the club’s entire history.

Alexis Sanchez of Manchester United (Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

Player of the Day:

ALEXIS SANCHEZ was at the centre of a January tug-of-war between Manchester City and Manchester United. City expected him to join on a free transfer from Arsenal this summer. United sensed his impatience as the Gunners struggled badly and swooped to sign him in the middle of the season, while offering him a king’s ransom to come to Old Trafford.

His arrival was heralded with him playing the piano as United trumpeted the signing on social media. But the trouble is that since that day, there have been a few too many bum notes from Sanchez for United’s liking. He has scored twice in 11 games, but Jose Mourinho is yet to find a system that gets the best out of the Chilean and the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford.

United did not go to all that trouble to sign someone who could score at home to Huddersfield and Swansea. They wanted a big player to do damage in the big games, and they don’t come much bigger than a Manchester derby, and certainly not when defeat would hand City the title there and then in a match that would forever be remembered.

United fans want to feel they got one over their nearest rivals when they acquired Sanchez and the player himself needs to deliver. There is no doubting Sanchez’s ability, but he has not quite looked the right fit for his new club, but things can change so quickly in football. A starring performance in a major win can change perceptions and increase confidence and the landscape suddenly appears different. That is what Sanchez must believe when he steps out at the Etihad tomorrow evening.

Everton manager Sam Allardyce (Nick Potts/PA Wire)

Can Allardyce dig out a statement victory?

DERBY Saturday kicks off on Merseyside with Everton and Liverpool locking horns at Goodison Park. But while the Reds will have one eye on the return leg with City on Tuesday night, this match represents the last chance to put some gloss on a miserable season for the Toffees.

With six matches to go, Everton are ninth in the league with 40 points. They are not going down and barring an unlikely strong finish, they are not going to gain a European place either. Since Liverpool beat them in the FA Cup Third Round in January, their season has been drifting towards its conclusion.

Sam Allardyce is going to fulfil his remit of keeping Everton in the Premier League after the early season struggles under Ronald Koeman and David Unsworth, but little else. Everton were tenth after beating Huddersfield in Allardyce’s first game in charge back in December, so it could be argued he has made no real impact.

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This will be Everton’s final game against top-six opposition and if they fail to win, it will be the first time since the 2001/02 season that they have not recorded a single victory against any of these clubs. They were out of the Europa League in embarrassing fashion before Christmas, they went out of the domestic cups early and they have been ticking along in the League. But home wins against the likes of Brighton and Crystal Palace won’t excite the Goodison faithful.

Allardyce’s relationship with the fans is an uneasy one. They have not been impressed by the style of football and a succession of defeats on their travels, including hammerings at Tottenham and Arsenal did not help, while they were frankly embarrassed by City on their own turf last Saturday, as the Champions-elect enjoyed a staggering 82% possession.

Big Sam needs a big win to demonstrate that he deserves a full crack next season as whispers surrounding Marco Silva and Shakhtar Donetsk manager Paulo Fonseca continue to swirl around Merseyside. For Everton, that means winning the Merseyside derby, something they have not achieved since October 2010. And with Liverpool having one eye elsewhere, they probably won’t have a better chance than this.