Manchester City travel to London on Sunday knowing that a win against West Ham will put them within touching distance of the Premier League title.
Currently three points clear of closest rivals Liverpool, a win at the London Stadium would leave Pep Guardiola's side needing just a point on the final day to clinch a fourth Premier League crown in five seasons.
The prospect of facing the Hammers, however, is not an overly enticing one. City have a host of injury concerns, with Guardiola short on fit senior centre-back options.
Couple that with the fact that David Moyes' side need to win to keep the race for Europa League football in their own hands, and it could be a tough afternoon for City.
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Three points would obviously help City, but a sky blue win would also do arch-rivals Manchester United a huge favour. How times have changed.
With City fighting for the title, United are scrapping with West Ham for sixth place and the final Europa League qualification spot. Should the Hammers beat City, they would leapfrog United and push Ralf Rangnick's side down into the Europa Conference League position.
A win for City would leave United in sixth place, three points ahead of West Ham heading into the final day of the season. On matchday 38, United travel to Crystal Palace while West Ham go to Brighton.
Of course, City helping out their neighbours will be the last thing on the minds of Guardiola and his players. In fact, it won't even be on their minds at all.
For City fans too, whether United qualify for the Europa League or not matters little - City need to win for themselves and no one else. But the idea of United relying on their 'noisy neighbours' for a favour to achieve something that they should have been able to do without outside help is frankly hilarious.
United not being able to offer incoming manager Erik ten Hag Champions League football next season is bad enough, but dropping out of Europa League contention in the final week of the season would be comical.
It's another indication of the power shift in Manchester. Back in the 2000s, it was City relying on United to beat their fellow basement dwellers. Now it's United relying on City to help them qualify for a competition that 10 years ago they would have snorted at the prospect of competing in.
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