Ruben Amorim insists Manchester City are in a "better place" than Manchester United ahead of the derby, despite their recent slump in form.

Pep Guardiola's side have won just one of their last 10 matches in all competitions going into the Manchester derby, and suffered their seventh loss during that run against Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday.

United, meanwhile, have lost their last two Premier League games against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest but came from behind to beat Viktoria Plzen 2-1 in the Europa League on Thursday.

The Red Devils sit 13th in the table after 15 games and are eight points behind Sunday's opponents at the start of the weekend, but Amorim believes the Citizens are still the favourites to claim all three points at the Etihad.

"The great teams can respond in any moment, and I think they are in a better place than us in type of understanding the game, the way they play, the confidence they have," said Amorim.

"Even in this kind of moments, we have a lot to focus on in our team. We will face a great opponent and I'm more focused on our problems. We have a lot of issues here.

"I cannot treat it like a normal derby. It should be like two great teams fighting for the title, and it is not that in this moment.

"So, it is just one more game with a very good opponent. Both teams are struggling in the moment so I hope in future I can feel that real feeling of a derby [that has title implications]."

Amorim has already beaten City this season, with his Sporting CP side winning 4-1 in a Champions League tie before his move to Old Trafford.

Only one manager has beaten the reigning Premier League champions with two different sides in a single campaign, with Alan Pardew beating City with both Newcastle United and Crystal Palace in 2014-15.

Hugo Viana is set to make the move from Sporting to City to replace Txiki Begiristain as director of football, while Amorim was linked to the club prior to Guardiola's contract extension.

The 39-year-old, however, insists he was never approached over the position.

"Never," he said. "I never heard from them, and this was my only option.

"When Manchester United talked to me, I had no doubts. I had already something in my mind that [the United job] could be a possibility. With Manchester City or Viana? Nothing about that."