Pep Guardiola has a job on his hands this weekend.
Not only will the Spaniard be taking charge of the first Manchester derby of the new season, but he'll be tasked with overcoming a recent hoodoo against Manchester United while also showing his career lessons as a coach.
Across their last four Premier League matches against their noisy neighbours, Manchester City have lost three and drawn one, having also failed to score in three consecutive games against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men.
Despite the current pressure on Solskjaer's shoulders at Old Trafford, he seems to be key to the struggles of Guardiola's side. He is the only coach to have beaten Guardiola more times than he’s lost, once compared to those who have faced him in at least three competitive matches.
Solskjaer has showcased a preference to instil counter-attacking football at United since his appointment. His team have encountered structural problems this season and they aren't quite on the level of City as a team, but their ability to counter-attack is undeniably strong.
It is a threat that Guardiola has persistently tried to nullify throughout his managerial career. It is arguably the one form of Kryptonite to his brand of possession-based football.
The City boss is consumed by control on the pitch. He wants the ball as far from his own goal as possible, and he wants to steadily build offensive moves while retaining possession in the process.
"To score a goal, you need the ball. So, as much as you have it, you have more chances to score a goal."
His philosophical approach has helped to deliver a whole host of honours in a variety of different competitions, but the natural way of playing against a Guardiola team is fairly obvious.
As a consequence of his players dominating possession, the way in which opponents tend to counteract that is by attacking quickly whenever the ball is lost and moving up the field at a rapid pace.
Guardiola highlighted the Bundesliga as impressive when it comes to the art of countering. "They are a German team so they use the counter-attack like a master," he once said before facing Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League.
It was during his time in Germany that Guardiola began fielding inverted full-backs who would tuck inside rather than overlap on the flanks in a traditional manner. The likes of Phillip Lahm would drift into central midfield from right-back once Bayern Munich secured possession, and that was to extinguish counter-attacking fires.
In England, Guardiola's approach has continued to deliver silverware, with his current striker-less system proving to be perfect when it comes to retaining control and restricting opponents.
City are facing just 6.6 shots on their goal per match this season, which is almost half of the average posted by the second-best team - Liverpool - who average 10.4 faced per match.
However, sides such as Liverpool, United and Crystal Palace have caused problems for City on the break over the years, with each of those teams possessing quality and speed when required to move from A to B as swiftly as possible.
Guardiola has previously labelled Solskjaer's United as 'the best counter-attacking team in Europe' and ahead of Saturday's bout, it is a dangerous weapon that his City outfit must negate.
