Manchester United – Manchester City (Premier League)
The long awaited Manchester derby takes place this Sunday afternoon at Old Trafford, with Pep Guardiola challenging José Mourinho’s record of 40 games of unbeaten at the Theater of Dreams. Manchester United are 8 points behind their rivals and they really need to win here in order to stay in the title race. Manchester City, on their turn, were cantering to the Premier League title but there has been a notable dip in recent weeks, arriving here in the back of their first defeat since the start of the season.
Manchester United are 2nd in the league with 35 points, result of 11 victories, 2 draws and 2 defeats, with 35 goals scored and 9 goals conceded. The team led by Jose Mourinho arrives here after 4 consecutive victories in the Premier League, with their last victory in the competition being in the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal. In the midweek, United also defeated CSKA Moscow in the final round of Group A, qualifying to the round 16 as a group leaders. This will be their hardest test in the title race, and their 8 point gap behind these league leaders makes the victory here of the utmost importance. Jose Mourinho arrives here with a fantastic home record, he has been undefeated in the last 40 matches played at Old Trafford in all competitions.
As for this season, of their 7 matches played at the Theater of Dreams in the Premier League, the Red Devils have always won, scoring 20 goals and conceding only 1 in the process, averaging 2.86 goals scored per game, and 0.14 conceded goals conceded. The Red Devils are the defense with fewer goals conceded in the league, typical of Jose Mourinho who is a tactical genius, and it is to expect that the Portuguese coach already has a plan meticulously studied in order to snatch the 3 points. Besides being defensively very well organized, the Red Devils stand out for their effectiveness in counter-attacking, with Rashford and Martial being both very fast players of great individual quality, capable of unbalancing any defensive sector.
In their last 5 official matches, Manchester United has a record of 4 victories and 1 defeat. This sequence of results started with a 1-0 defeat against FC Basel, for the Champions League. This result was followed by a 1-0 victory against Brighton, a 2-4 victory against Watford, a 1-3 victory over Arsenal, and in their last match, a 2-1 victory over CSKA Moscow, for the Champions League. Paul Pogba, suspended, and Eric Bailly and Carrickm both injured, are all out for this match.
Probable Lineup: Gea – Jones, Smalling and Rojo – Valencia, Matic, Herrera and Young – Lingard – Martial and Lukaku.
Manchester City, on their turn, are league leaders with 43 points, result of 14 victories and 1 draw, with 46 goals scored and 10 goals conceded. Pep Guardiola’s men arrive here in a superb form, having won all of the last 13 Premier League games, and are isolated at the top of the table with 8 points above 2nd placed Manchester United. Although City were cantering to the Premier League title, there has been a notable dip in recent weeks. They have gone behind in two of their last three league matches and required late winners in all of them and suffered their first defeat of the season in midweek, against Shakhtar Donetsk. Despite they first defeat of the season in midweek, against Shakhtar Donetsk, the Citizens qualified to the round of 16 as group leaders.
As for their away record in the Premier League, Manchester City won all of their 7 matches, scoring 18 goals and conceding only 4 in the process, averaging 2.57 goals scored per game, and 0.57 goals conceded. The Citizens are also a very well-organized team defensively, but they demonstrate greater offensive ability, being able to create danger in any kind of offensive transition, whether it is by attacking through the middle or down the wings, counter-attacks, offensive set pieces and in creating scoring chances through individual skill, with Sané, Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Aguero standing out by their individual quality.
In their last 5 official matches, Manchester City has a record of 4 victories and 1 defeat. This sequence of results started with a 1-0 victory over Feyenoord, for the Champions League. This result was followed by a 1-2 victory against Huddersfield Town, a 2-1 victory over Southampton, a 2-1 victory against West Ham, and in their last match, a 2-1 victory against Shakhtar Donetsk, for the Champions League. Benjamin Mendy and John Stones are both ruled out through injury.
Probable Lineup: Ederson – Walker, Kompany, Otamendi and Delph – Fernandinho, Bruyne and David Silva – Sterling, Aguero and Sané.
Manchester United have won 3 of their last 8 direct clashes, drawing 2 and losing the remaining 3. As for the coaches, they have met 19 times, with Mourinho winning 4, drawing 7, and losing the remaining 8.
| Manchester City | 0-0 | Manchester United |
Premier League 2016/17
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|
Manchester United
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1-0 |
Manchester City |
EFL Cup 2016/17
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| Manchester United | 1-2 | Manchester City |
Premier League 2016/17
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| Manchester City | 0-1 | Manchester United |
Premier League 2015/16
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| Manchester United | 0-0 | Manchester City |
Premier League 2015/16
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| Manchester United | 4-2 | Manchester City |
Premier League 2014/15
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| Manchester City | 1-0 | Manchester United |
Premier League 2014/15
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| Manchester United | 0-3 | Manchester City |
Premier League 2013/14
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Manchester United have been in great form in recent games, while City seems to be in descendent form. Both teams are very well organized defensively and present great quality in the offensive process, so expect a game a bit tactical but with great intensity in all ball contests. This will definitely won’t be a goalless match, with Manchester United needing these 3 points to get closer to their rivals at the top of the table, so expect several scoring chances at both ends of the pitch.
