Venue: City of Manchester Stadium Date: Sunday, 30 November Kick-off: 1330 GMT Coverage: Updates on BBC Sport website & highlights on MOTD 2
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Berbatov was injured on international duty with Bulgaria
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Manchester United's Dimitar Berbatov is in contention for Sunday's derby at Manchester City after returning to training following a hamstring injury.
The striker has missed the last two games and manager Sir Alex Ferguson has vowed not to rush him back.
He said: "Hamstring injuries are never easy to deal with. We must be careful because he has never had one before.
"We will have to gauge whether it's wise to use him from the start on Sunday or to have him on the bench."
Bulgarian Berbatov, 27, was injured while on international duty.
Meanwhile, Ferguson also confirmed that veteran duo Gary Neville and Paul Scholes are also back in training.
Neville has been struggling with a groin injury, although he might be fit to face City.
But Scholes, who had a knee operation after the Champions League trip to Aalborg in September, is more likely to be held back.
The 150th competitive Manchester derby and 139th league clash between City and United, could see the blue half of the city celebrating three league derby victories in a row for the first time in 38 years.
Mark Hughes faces his former boss for the ninth time as a manager, and is looking for a third Premier League victory over Sir Alex Ferguson's defending champions. Hughes won two, drew two and lost three of his seven league clashes with United when in charge of Blackburn.
United have won seven Premier League games so far; City have lost seven.
Between them these clubs boast 24 different scorers of league goals this term; 12 each.
Distance between the clubs: five miles (eight kilometres)
This is of course the season's shortest Premier League journey for Manchester United, and the shortest of any top-flight club this weekend.
MANCHESTER CITY
Going into the weekend: 11th 17 points
1. Won one of five Premier League matches.
2. Chasing back-to-back league wins for the first time in 12 outings, having beaten Arsenal 3-0 at Eastlands last Saturday.
3. Won 11 of 22 league and cup matches under Mark Hughes; lost seven of 14 in the Premier League.
4. Down by some 12 points on this same stage last season; were in the top three after 14 games 12 months ago.
5. Alternated between win and loss in their last 11 home league games; due a defeat if that pattern continues.
6. The City of Manchester Stadium has seen more Premier League goals this season that any other club; 27 (19 for, eight against).
7. Need to score twice to total 300 all-time home Premier League goals.
8. Lost the last four top-flight matches against North-West clubs, and failed to score in five of the last seven.
9. Gained two points from a last possible 21 in North-West derbies since beating Manchester United 1-2 at Old Trafford on 10 February 2008; their only maximum in 11 regional derby clashes.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Going into the weekend: 3rd 25 points
1. Completed successive goalless draws in league and cup and not conceded in four games in all competitions.
2. Lost one of the last 10 Premier League matches; 2-1, away to Arsenal on 8 November.
3. One defeat shy of 150 in top-flight football under Sir Alex Ferguson.
4. Last Saturday's goalless stalemate, away to Aston Villa, was their first no score draw in 50 Premier League matches, and the first time they had failed to score in 37 league outings, ending their club record run of scoring in each of the last 36 Premier League games.
5. On the longest current run in the highest league of 91 matches since a loss by more than a single goal; the most recent being 3-0, away to Chelsea on 29 April 2006.
6. Five points down on this same stage last season, when they were top of the table.
7. Lost one of eight North-West derbies; 2-1, away to Liverpool on 13 September 2008.
MANCHESTER CITY
Joe HART and Micah RICHARDS are the only remaining players to have started each of Manchester City's Premier League games this season.
If on the field from the outset:-
Dietmar HAMANN will be making his 50th Premier League start for the Citizens.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Patrice EVRA is the only player to have started each of Manchester United's Premier League games this season.
If he scores:-
Wayne ROONEY will total 100 club goals (Everton and Manchester United).
If selected:-
John O'SHEA will be making his 200th career Premier League appearance for Manchester United.
Ryan GIGGS will be playing the day after his 35th birthday.
The winner of the Manchester league derby at City has alternated in the last five years. United must win this time if that pattern is to continue.
The last 11 matches between City and United have yielded a total of 32 goals.
United were one of three clubs City did the double over last season; City were the only club to do the double over United.
Home and away
League (inc PL): Man City 37 wins, Man Utd 53, Draws 48
Prem: Man City 5 wins, Man Utd 12, Draws 5
at Man City only
League (inc PL): Man City 22 wins, Man Utd 24, Draws 23
Prem: Man City 4 wins, Man Utd 6, Draws 1
Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United
19 August 2007 - Ref: Mark Clattenburg
Man City scorer: Geovanni 31
Howard Webb (Yorkshire)
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