If Manchester City really are ready to challenge the Manchester United/Chelsea Premier League hegemony then Thursday's derby at Eastlands is the time to prove it.
The feeling persists that City are underdogs yet things could hardly be more in their favour after they ended a run of three successive defeats in all competitions with a 2-0 win at West Bromwich Albion on Monday.
Their Italian striker Mario Balotelli began to pay back some of his reported transfer fee of 24 million pounds with both goals.
The win took City to within five points of leaders Chelsea, beaten 2-0 at Liverpool, and within three of United, who needed a stoppage-time goal to scramble a 2-1 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
United's also been hit by a a virus that's ruled out Dimitar Berbatov and left others such as Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Paul Scholes weakened but able to play.
