Manchester United vs Manchester City: The Manchester City squad will be travelling across the city to meet their neighbours in a much-awaited derby on Sunday. After losing their previous encounter of the season, City will look to even things out with Manchester United in the 182nd meeting between the two local rivals at Old Trafford.
City’s last Premier League match was against Leicester City two weeks ago and they managed to bag three points. In the three matches that they have played since then, City have defeated Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League, won the Carabao Cup, and advanced to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Tomorrow, they will be keen on bagging another three points and strengthening their place at the second rank of the table.
United, on the other hand, faced Everton in their last Premier League match and had to settle for a draw last Sunday. They also bagged a win in the Europa League and cemented their place in the Round of 16.
In the light of UEFA’s two-year ban imposed on City, United have a chance of qualifying for the Champions League if they finish the season at the fifth place. They are only three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea and will look to close the gap between them and the London-based team.
Manchester City vs Manchester United match preview:
With three wins in their last five Premier League matches, City seemed to have gained momentum in the final months of the season. They suffered defeat at the hands of their rivals at Etihad on two occasions this season – one in the league and the other in the second leg of Carabao Cup semi-final.
They are now set to face a motivated United side that will look to achieve a league double over City for the first time since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson.
In the last seven meetings between the two sides, the away team has picked a victory six times. Moreover, United have lost their last three matches against City at Old Trafford across all competitions. If City manage to win tonight’s match, they will become the first top-flight side in English football to defeat United four times in a row at their home since 1971.
From the Press Conference:
Pep Guardiola:
On Kevin De Bruyne: “ He’s getting better, tomorrow he’s going to train, he’s not perfect but he feels better”.
On Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and United: “What I saw the players follow him absolutely, they’re getting better, right now is maybe their best moment of the season. When I saw the last game they were incredibly aggressive. In some games, they are defending against us, but what I saw of the last games it’s a team that is aggressive, at Goodison Park they played a good game.
“Normally it’s more comfortable for the home team, I don’t know why that is. It’s always difficult to win against the big clubs. It doesn’t mean it’s going to happen on Sunday. If we believe it’s more important for them than us we will lose the game. I never play a game thinking we have more points or these points.“
On Phil Foden: “ If Phil is with us he’s ready to play on the biggest stages.”
On Leroy Sane: “He’s making big progress but he’s still not 100 per cent fit and he has to be 100 per cent fit to play now. Maybe another Under-23 game would be good.”
On City’s form and Manchester Derby: “It’s so nice, I love it, they’re always special, the situation this season is a bit different as we play to improve, not to win the title, for them it’s so important, it will affect the Champions League next season.“
“We want to improve what we’re going to do, at Sheffield we had moments that we didn’t do perfectly. It’s been a good month, we’ve done well. Even before that our level of play was good, but there’s still two months to go and a lot to play for.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer:
On Manchester City: “There’s not going to be any video [session] on Friday or Saturday because we’ve played them so many times. I think it helps. We want to play. My team is still developing, our team is still developing and you want to play against the best.
“We need to learn and they’ve been the best the last few seasons. For us, it’s a great challenge.”
On Pep Guardiola: “I’m sure we have an element of surprise, that’s not an issue. So has he [Pep Guardiola]. Everyone has watched Man City quite a few times and we have to be ready for whatever they throw at us.”
On the schedule of fixtures: “It’s that ‘help’ we get from the FA again. I cannot believe it … that extra 24 hours they have had.“
“There’s a derby on Sunday and we’ve got to play Thursday night. What is the point in that? That doesn’t level the playing field. Those 24 hours are important and we’ve got to be good at recovering now.”
Suspensions and injuries
Manchester City: City’s season-long struggle with the injuries will once again see the likes of Aymeric Laporte and Leroy Sane on the sidelines. In addition, Kevin De Bruyne’s presence is also doubtful after the Belgian sustained a shoulder injury.
Manchester United: The injury concerns are serious for United as well since Harry Maguire is expected to miss the Derby owing to his ankle injury. Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James might also miss the match after their recent injuries. Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba have been dealing with long-term injuries and will definitely miss out on Sunday’s match as both players are expected to return to the training only next week.
Predicted Line-up
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Otamendi, Fernandinho, Mendy, Foden, Rodri, Gundogan, Mahrez, Sterling, Aguero
Manchester United: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw, Matic, McTominay, Fred, Fernandes, James, Martial
Manchester Derby Prediction
- Manchester City win: 58%
- Draw: 22%
- Manchester United win: 20%
