Manchester United host Everton later on Sunday and will be hoping to get their second straight win for the first time this season.
Neither side has had an ideal start to the season with both already at least eight points behind leaders Chelsea with only six games played.
Here at MM, we took a look back at some of the greatest players to play for both Manchester and Merseyside outfits and here are our top five:
5. Andrei Kanchelskis
The only player to score in the Manchester, Merseyside and Glasgow derbies joined United from Shakhtar Donetsk in 1991 and soon established himself in Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.
The Russian midfielder had a fantastic goals-to-game ratio for United scoring 23 times in 109 league games for Ferguson’s side in the four seasons he was there, including 14 goals in the 1994/95 Premier League Campaign.
However in 1995 he was transfer listed by Ferguson and Everton broke their transfer record to buy him spending £5million to bring him to Goodison Park.
He was replaced at United by an unknown teenager by the name of… David Beckham.
4. Norman Whiteside
Norman Whiteside joined United aged just 13 in 1978 and made an immediate impact when he made his debut two weeks before his 17th birthday.
Whiteside became the youngest ever goalscorer for United when he scored on the final day of the season in a 2-0 home win against stoke eight days after turning 17.
He continued his record-breaking career as he also became the youngest player to ever play at a World Cup, the youngest player to score in an FA Cup final and the youngest player to score in a League Cup final.
Whiteside memorably scored the extra-time winner in the 1985 FA Cup final that prevented Everton from winning the double.
Injury plagued his time with United and eventually Whiteside’s career at the club came to an end when he joined Everton on a four-year deal after eight years with the reds.
Unfortunately he was only able to see two years out on Merseyside as he was forced to end his career due to injury at just 26.
3. Mark Hughes
Like Whiteside, Mark Hughes was also a key player for United in the 1980s but also carried on into the 90s where he played a crucial part in bringing success back to the club.
Hughes joined United as soon as he left school in 1980 but didn’t make his debut until three years later, coming on in a 1-1 draw away to Oxford in the League Cup in the 1983/84.
He played for United 121 times scoring 47 goals before a shock move to Barcelona in 1986 to join fellow new recruit Gary Lineker.
However Hughes didn’t settle in Catalonia and after being loaned out to Bayern Munich, he re-joined United when Sir Alex Ferguson signed him in 1988.
He then spent seven successful seasons back at United in which he made 346 appearances and scoring 116 times bring his total at United to 163 goals in 467 games.
Hughes then left United for Chelsea in 1995 and after a spell at Southampton; he ended his career at Everton after spending two years at the club.
2. Peter Beardsley
Despite only playing one time for Manchester United we had to put him in after his phenomenal career.
Beardsley joined United from Vancouver Whitecaps in 1982 but after one appearance, was released by Ron Atkinson in arguably one of the biggest managerial mistakes at United.
Playing for 12 clubs in a career spanning over 20 years, he cemented his name as one of the greatest forwards of his generation scoring over 200 goals.
Who knows what United would have gone on to achieve in the 1980s if they hadn’t released him.
1. Wayne Rooney
Not surprisingly Wayne Rooney is our number one.
Starting his career with the Toffees, he broke into the first team at aged 16 and became the youngest goal-scorer in Premier history at the time when he scored an injury-time winner against Arsenal ending their 30-match unbeaten run in October 2002.
Following two successful seasons with Everton scoring 15 goals, he handed in a transfer request in August 2004 and ultimately received his wish, joining Manchester United for £25million that month.
Rooney made his debut for United and immediately made an impact scoring a hat-trick in a 6-2 win over Fenerbahce in the Champions League.
This was to be the beginning of a stellar career with the club as he has so far clocked up 448 appearances scoring 219 times putting him only 30 behind the clubs all-time top goalscorer, Sir Bobby Charlton.
His international record also speaks for itself as he has scored 41 times in 97 games since making his debut at 17 in 2003. He is also only eight goals behind Sir Bobby’s all-time record of 49 goals for England.
Despite winning the Premier League five times, a Champions League and being awarded the PFA Player of the year in 2009/10, arguably his greatest achievements both came in August where in the space of just over two weeks he received the captaincy for both club and country.
There is no doubt that Rooney is one of the greatest players to play for United and that is why he is our number one.
Main image courtesy of bwin via YouTube, with thanks.
