Sir Alex Ferguson would doubtless argue that he has more pressing matters to worry about than a slap on the wrist from the FA, but the Manchester United manager is expected to escape disciplinary action for his comments about Steve Bennett, the referee, in the wake of Cristiano Ronaldo’s sending-off at Fratton Park.

Bennett showed Ronaldo a red card against Manchester City in January 2006 and Ferguson claimed that the official “will have loved the opportunity to send him off again” after the Portugal winger aimed a head-butt at Richard Hughes, a Portsmouth substitute, five minutes before the end of United’s disappointing 1-1 Barclays Premier League draw on Wednesday evening.

A spokesman for the FA confirmed yesterday that it was unlikely the governing body would take the matter farther after studying Ferguson’s comments, but while it may still write to him to ask him to explain his remarks, the United manager has other problems to concern himself with after his team’s worst start to a season since 1998.

The optimists will point out that that was the season United went on to win the treble of league title, FA Cup and Champions League, although such statistics will offer little comfort to Ferguson as he ponders how to stop a resurgent Manchester City side in the derby on Sunday without several of his best players.

Lagging four points behind Chelsea after only two matches is one thing; trailing City by the same number is quite another, especially when your sworn rivals now happen to be managed by one of your great adversaries.

Sven-Göran Eriksson claimed that there was “nothing personal” between him and Ferguson, but the disputes they had during the Swede’s tenure as England head coach may pale in comparison should City open up a seven-point lead on United with victory at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Even if they lose, City will remain a point better off than their neighbours, but with Wayne Rooney included on Ferguson’s casualty list, Ronaldo suspended for the first of three matches and his own team riding high after back-to-back wins over West Ham United and Derby County, Eriksson will not be underestimating City’s chances of causing an upset.

“I haven’t spoken to him [Ferguson], but I haven’t spoken to any managers so far,” Eriksson, speaking before the 2-0 victory over West Ham last weekend, said. “There is no problem and I don’t have any problems with him. Alex and myself may have had different opinions about Manchester United and the national team, especially friendly games, but we had a lot of dinners together as well. There is nothing personal at all.”

That said, however, it would not seem unreasonable to characterise Sunday’s contest in boxing terms, with the Govan street-fighter in the red corner and the softly-spoken Swede, with the looks and manner of an Ikea executive, in the blue.

Ferguson and Eriksson’s last known conversation took place on the eve of the World Cup finals last summer, when the United manager is said to have slammed down the phone after reacting incredulously to the Swede’s insistence that he would have the final say on whether Rooney, broken metatarsal or not, would play in the tournament. How ironic, then, that Rooney should be missing the derby with a fractured foot.

The 1-0 win over Derby on Wednesday gave further credence to the belief that Eriksson’s team will challenge for a European place this season, but only 24 hours before City’s winning start against West Ham, Ferguson had suggested that they would not finish in the top ten.

Whether Ferguson offers his thoughts on Eriksson’s arrival in Manchester at a press conference today remains to be seen, given that he had vowed, in fairly blunt terms, to keep them to himself during United’s preseason tour to Asia last month. But suffice to say there is no love lost between them.

The forecast may be for rain in Manchester on Sunday, but temperatures are sure to be at boiling point.