Michael Carrick's first Manchester derby in charge ended with City on the wrong side of the scoreline in January, and nobody saw it coming. A club legend, thrown into the biggest fixture on the calendar with no runway to prepare, walked out with a win over the team he used to help beat everyone else. That result has sat with City all year.
Now the rematch is here, at Old Trafford, and this time Carrick isn't a surprise. He's the man who already did it once, and City know exactly what they're walking into. United fans have a reason to believe this isn't a fluke. City have a long memory and a specific score to settle against a manager who used to wear their rival's colors on the biggest stage of all and now wears them on the other side.
This is the kind of derby where the story shows up before the whistle does. Manchester City vs Manchester United, Old Trafford, and one simple question staring back at every fan who remembers January: does City get its revenge, or does Carrick do it again?