Liverpool or City?

Who are Manchester United’s principal rivals, Liverpool or Manchester City?

"It’s a simple question that has delivered a complicated response ahead of Sunday’s match with the Merseysiders, a fixture that is historically the biggest of the season but is no longer considered as relevant or impactful as those with Roberto Mancini’s title rivals.

City's stock has risen since. A 2011 FA Cup triumph famously brought down a Stretford End banner counting their years without a trophy, before last season's dramatic title win ended a 44-year wait for a first division crown - a feat no Reds supporter needs reminding of.

Additional factors have also fuelled the fire of this burgeoning battle, not least City's signing of former United striker Carlos Tevez and the now infamous ‘Welcome to Manchester’ poster, as well as several incendiary encounters.

As a result, the Manchester derby is now more a grand occasion of state than a football match, an event of national standing. It has its own space in the calendar, its own lexicon and a particularly tight stranglehold on the news agenda. Victory, quite simply, offers more than just three points and local bragging rights."
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"Take away all of the emotion and desire for short-term supremacy; is the Manchester derby a bigger fixture than those contested with historic rivals Liverpool, a club which has throughout recent history battled United for the title of pound-for-pound champion in English football? It’s a good question."

- ManUtd.com's Mark Froggatt

Inspired from manutd.com and I'm curious to find your opinions.

Historically, it's the Merseysiders. But since Liverpool is too far down the table for this to make sense (emotion-wise, intensity-wise), so for this season I'll pick City.

It will always be liverpool. Even if they were playing in the 4th tier of English football, they would still be our biggest and most hated rivals.

City are a local derby. But they are no way near yet to how us and lfc feel about each other. Hatred sprinkled with respect.

City are just our whipping boys, Liverpool are our rivals

B-Mac MUFC wrote:City are just our whipping boys, Liverpool are our rivals