This was supposed to be the fixture that would end Lisandro Martinez's Premier League career, the game where he would be gobbled up and spat out by Erling Haaland, proof that he just wasn't physically capable of playing in this league.
After Manchester United opened the season with successive defeats to Brighton and Brentford, Martinez was one of the players in the firing line. At 5ft 9in he was considered too small ever to be a success in the Premier League and the £56million signing was being written off.
United conceded six goals in those two games and pundits were highlighting Martinez's lack of stature as a problem. He had difficult moments against Danny Welbeck and Ivan Toney.
READ MORE: Steak dinners and extra training - how United signing have settled in
But Erik ten Hag knew what he was getting when he demanded United sign the left-footed Argentine and what he lacks in size he more than makes up for in aggression. Six weeks on from the Brentford debacle he's a cult hero at United. In his last game he was serenaded by chants of 'Argentina, Argentina' from the 600 United fans in Moldova.
United have won five of their last six games in all competitions and Martinez has started all five. His partnership with Raphael Varane has helped the team to three clean sheets in that period and just three goals conceded. They look a much more competent and assured outfit since those first weeks of the season.
Martinez has dealt ably with Roberto Firmino, Che Adams, Jamie Vardy and Gabriel Jesus in the four successive Premier League wins, but much like the team he's in, his biggest test awaits at the Etihad this weekend.
Haaland is eight inches taller than Martinez and those pundits watching his early struggles in the league were already wincing at the thought of the damage the Norwegian might wreak.
The Manchester City striker has scored in seven successive games for the Blues and has 14 already this season in all competitions. His start to life in the Premier League has been frightening.
But the idea he is going to destroy Martinez this weekend isn't as strong as it was in mid-August. United's centre-back has the aggression and the intensity to halt Haaland and for all the striker's physical gifts, City aren't going to start pinging long balls in his direction.
If the play remains mostly on the ground that Martinez has shown he's an outstanding centre-back one-on-one and when the ball is there to be won on the deck. He also has experience of facing Haaland.
Martinez was in the Ajax team that beat Borussia Dortmund 4-0 in Amsterdam last season, shutting Haaland out. On that day the defender registered four tackles and four interceptions.
Questions over his height and his physical prowess were always likely for Martinez, as Jaap Stam told the Manchester Evening News this week.
“That was an easy one, the day when he signed for United, I had already said they will talk about his height," he said.
“Over here [in England], everyone thinks as a centre-back you need to be big and tall, otherwise you won’t make it.
“The thing is, you need to look at the big picture of how the manager wants to play because that’s the most important thing. He wants to play dominating football, meaning you need to have players at the back who are comfortable on the ball.
”Of course, sometimes he’s going to get surprised, but that’s what also happens with big players - they make mistakes as well.
“Martinez shows his quality on the ball, he shows his quality when defending and his communication around him is good. He just needs to keep going.”
He will keep going this weekend. In a fiercely contested derby you can be sure the 24-year-old won't be missing in action. His partnership with Varane has been excellent so far and while this is a new test, it's not going to be the end for Martinez, as many were predicting just a few weeks ago.
READ NEXT:
