One of Alex Ferguson's former stalwarts, Roy Keane, last weekend admitted his concern about Sunderland's alarming decline after a string of negative results saw the Black Cats slip into the Premier League's relegation zone.
This afternoon, Sunderland face Manchester United at Old Trafford but will do so without Keane who quit as manager on Thursday afternoon.
Sunderland have lost four of their last five Premier League matches. Last weekend, they suffered a 4-1 rout at the hands of modest side Bolton at the Stadium of Light. Keane spent £80 million on new players and said after the Bolton defeat that he had no excuses for his side's sorry slide into the red zone.
United, having won the derby 1-0 against City at the latter's lair, stayed third but have a game in hand on Liverpool and Chelsea. The goal that sunk the Citizens on Sunday was the 100th club goal for Wayne Rooney.
Ferguson defended Cristiano Ronaldo over the red card incident in the second half of the derby, claiming that the Portuguese was trying to protect his face.
Ronaldo received some good news on Tuesday morning when he was officially crowned European Footballer of the Year.
United dominated the derby from start to finish and their supremacy underlined the gulf that exists between the two sides.
United have also reached the semi-finals of the League Cup after a 5-3 (Tevez scored four goals) win at home to Blackburn.
Ewood Park. Back-to-back home draws meant that top-of-the-table Liverpool have lost precious points in their bid to win the Premier League title. In their goalless draw against West Ham on Monday, the pressure told on Liverpool and the longer the game went, the harder it became for them to find a way through.
This afternoon, Liverpool travel to troubled Blackburn whose manager, Paul Ince, had a spell with the Anfield club during his playing career.
Liverpool will be without injured striker Fernando Torres who is expected to be out for a long time.
Reebok Stadium. Bolton are going through one of the best spells in their Premier League history as they lie ninth following away wins against north-east sides Sunderland (4-1) and Middlesbrough (3-1).
Record-signing Johan Elmander has scored three goals in the last two league outings. This afternoon, they will be looking to extend their positive streak when hosting Chelsea.
The Londoners, a force at Stamford Bridge for several years, have suddenly become a 'normal' side in front of their own fans. Chelsea have always won at the Reebok Stadium without conceding a goal.
Emirates Stadium. Arsenal have shown that they can still rub shoulders with the elite after their win at Chelsea but it is also true that they must start to beat modest teams like Wigan if they want to last the pace.
In their last five league outings, the Gunners lost at Stoke, Manchester City and at home to Aston Villa but beat Manchester United (home) and Chelsea (away).
Arsene Wenger's youths, however, are out of the League Cup as they were knocked out by Burnley in midweek.
Goodison Park. Fifth-placed Aston Villa, who meet Everton tomorrow, have drawn two home matches without scoring a goal.
Their goalless draw against Fulham upset the fans who had been heartened by their team's bold performance against Manchester United.
With striker John Carew hitting a lean spell, Villa boss Martin O'Neill wants more options up front. Everton, saddened by the bad injury suffered by Yakubu during their win at Spurs, are now seventh, four points behind fourth-placed Arsenal.
KC Stadium. Hull will be looking for better concentration against Middlesbrough following the one-all draw at Stoke.
The Tigers have drawn their last three matches and their last win came against West Brom away, seven league matches earlier.
Boro's under-fire striker Afonso Alves has been praised by Gareth Southgate, even if his missed chances cost the side victory in the derby against Newcastle.
The Hawthorns. Portsmouth have won their second match since Tony Adams took over at Fratton Park, against Blackburn.
Pompey, in duel with bottom club West Brom, will never forget how close they came to toppling Milan but following the 2-3 upset to Wolfsburg on Thursday, they are now out of contention in the UEFA Cup.
Manager Tony Mowbray will surely add to his squad next month in an attempt to keep West Brom afloat in the top flight.
Craven Cottage. Fulham are still savouring the draws they earned at Liverpool and Aston Villa. Jimmy Bullard said the Cottagers are finally showing the resilience needed to pick up points away.
The Londoners host Manchester City, who failed miserably against United in the derby. Mark Hughes commented that his team were nowhere near their city rivals.
In the six Premier League matches between Fulham and City at Craven Cottage, the home side won only once, 2-1 in 2005-06.
Upton Park. Monday's schedule features the London derby between West Ham and Tottenham. Both sides are hovering above the relegation zone and need a good result with the Christmas programme looming.
Spurs have lost two league matches since Harry Redknapp replaced Juande Ramos and their position is still precarious. In midweek, they stayed on course to retain the League Cup after beating Watford away to book a place in the semi-finals.
St James' Park. Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear has had his contract extended until the end of the season. The Magpies have failed to win in their last four league matches. Their opponents Stoke have lost only once in their past six commitments and are 14th in the standings.