Manchester City vs Manchester United
English Premier League 2018/19
Sunday 11th November, 16:30 pm BST
Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Manchester City and Manchester United clash at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday in arguably the most-anticipated game of this weekend’s Premier League action.
Pep Guardiola’s side currently top the Premier League table – two points ahead of both Chelsea and Liverpool, whilst they are nine points ahead of rivals United who are down in seventh position.
Both teams were winners in the Champions League on Wednesday night – City thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 6-0 whilst Manchester United scored two late goals to pull off a dramatic 2-1 win at Juventus. It’s fair to expect goals in this game, with over 3.5 goals at 5/4 with Betfair. The betting exchange was found to be the best bookmaker for ‘cash out’ should you be watching the game live.
Jose Mourinho’s side will have had less preparation time for this match given that they were playing in Italy midweek. The United boss has also struggled to rotate his squad of late given a string of tough fixtures and injuries to the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Antonio Valencia and Marouane Fellaini.
The Portuguese coach hinted that Lukaku will be a game time decision on whether the Belgian striker could feature or not, whilst Fellaini made his return as a late substitute at Juventus. Ashley Young is likely to keep his place at right-back in the absence of Antonio Valencia.
Manchester City have been able to rotate their squad having thrashed Southampton 6-1 last weekend before their convincing victory in the Champions League. Both games were on home soil too meaning they will have less fatigue to worry about compared to their rivals.
The away side were the victors in each of the two fixtures between these sides last season but Manchester City’s start to this campaign rightly has them as favourites going into the weekend. The Citizens have won nine of their 11 Premier League matches, drawing the other two.
Predicted Manchester City Starting Lineup (4-3-3): Ederson; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Benjamin Mendy; Fernandinho, Bernardo Silva, David Silva; Riyad Mahrez, Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling
Predicted Manchester United Starting Lineup (4-3-3): David de Gea; Ashley Young, Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw; Nemanja Matic, Ander Herrera, Paul Pogba; Marcus Rashford, Alexis Sanchez, Anthony Martial
Manchester City vs Manchester United Tips
Manchester City head into the Manchester derby on great form and with better preparation. This is reflected by their odds as the hosts are as short as 2/5 to win.
Both teams have been scoring freely of late and neither has the most secure defence. This fixture finished 3-2 to Manchester United last season and we could be in for another thriller this weekend.
Sergio Aguero has scored eight goals in his nine matches against Manchester United. The striker is 13/5 to open the scoring on Sunday.
Prediction: Manchester City 3-2 Manchester United (22/1).
