Porto success sets up a derby with edge

Three league wins, a first Champions League victory under Enzo Maresca, and now the small matter of a trip to Old Trafford. City's start to the season has been tidy enough, but the real measuring stick arrives this weekend.

The 2-0 win in Porto was exactly the kind of result that builds belief. Maresca's side had already collected nine points from nine in the Premier League, and the performance in Portugal suggested the early-season promise is translating onto the European stage.

“We are improving game after game,” the City boss said afterwards. It is hard to argue.

Bouaddi's calm debut and a captain's flashpoint

The most intriguing selection of the night was Ayyoub Bouaddi. The 18-year-old was handed his first start for the club and, by all accounts, handled the occasion with remarkable composure. Maresca was clearly taken with what he saw.

“You expect Erling, Ruben, Mateo that they can manage these games, but he was top,” he said.

Not everything was so serene. Rúben Dias found himself at the centre of a half-time confrontation between the two camps, with footage appearing to show the City captain placing a hand on Porto boss Francesco Farioli. UEFA may yet take a look, though there has been no confirmation of any charge. The club will hope that is the end of it.

Haaland's numbers keep climbing

Erling Haaland, as ever, provided the headline act. His two goals took him to 167 for City, third on the club's all-time list, and his Champions League tally now reads a frankly absurd 59 goals in 59 appearances.

The evening ended with a stoppage-time scuffle with Pablo Rosario, both men booked. Haaland's explanation? The Porto midfielder had been “grabbing my bottom” while trying to stop him completing a hat-trick. Football, eh.

Old Trafford test awaits

Maresca has already conceded that the derby will “probably” be his biggest test since taking the job. City's last visit ended in a 2-0 defeat, a reminder that form counts for little in these games.

United arrive with four points, having lost to Hull, beaten Ipswich and drawn at Everton. City, by contrast, are perfect in the league. The form book points one way, but derbies have a habit of ignoring it.

Some of the great moments in this fixture were revisited this week: the 5-1 at Maine Road, Yaya Touré at Wembley, the 6-1, Vincent Kompany's header and that glorious Haaland-Foden 6-3. A fresh chapter could be written on Sunday.