Prediction and match preview for Man City vs Man United
Manchester City against Manchester United is the big derby of the week in England. The two teams will face each other on Sunday in the Manchester derby number 187, in the 28th round of the Premier League.
The match on the Etihad is played about 24 hours away from a similar match in stakes, Liverpool - West Ham United. City seeks to win this match and keep the "cormorants" away from the top position in the table. On the other hand, United also needs 3 points, in an attempt to secure the 4th place at the end of the season. Arsenal seem to be the favorites at the moment to finish last in the Champions League table area!
Pep Guardiola's side won in their last match, tormented, 1-0 at Everton, after a goal by Foden towards the end of the play. City qualified for the FA Cup quarter-finals after a 2-0 win over Peterborough United. Goals came in the second half from Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish. In the next cup round, the "citizens" will play at Southampton.
On the other hand, Manchester United comes after a poor result at home, a 0-0 with Watford. It was a game after which Ralf Rangnick expressed some frustration: “Our job as coaches is to help the team create enough chances. If we only had two or three chances against Watford, we might wonder why we didn't win. But the number of chances we had should have been enough to win the game. We have to be more careful in front of the goal, but if you miss so much, it's hard to win a game. ”. The Old Trafford team has drawn in 3 of the last 5 Premier League games, including a draw with another relegation team at Burnley (1-1). United, therefore, has made its mission more difficult. Ronaldo & Co are in 4th place at the start of the round, but Arsenal are 2 points away and have 3 games less played.
Manchester City won the round match 2-0 and contributed to the departure of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, which came shortly after United were also beaten 4-1 at Watford. An own goal by Eric Bailly and a goal by Silva set the final score. In the last 5 direct games, however, the results are balanced, both sides having 2 victories each while one match ended in a draw.
However, Man United arrives on Etihad after a series of 9 unbeaten away games, in all competitions, and especially after winning the last 3 games in this arena. Two victories were in the Premier League, 2-1 and 2-0, respectively, and one in the League Cup, 1-0. Each time, however, City finished better at the end of the season, and in the League Cup they still went further in the competition last year, after winning the second leg match at Old Trafford 3-1.
It should be noted that the last direct matches had quite a few goals. In the last 6 games there were 0-2 goals in total. And during this period, no match ended with goals from both sides. Either City or United won at zero, with a 0-0 draw at the end of December 2020 at Old Trafford.
As for the group, Pep Guardiola is facing a question as to whether he will be able to use Ruben Dias in defense. He was taken out of the break in the Cup match with the idea of protecting him, after the Portuguese suffered minor medical problems. Nathan Ake was also injured in the same match. Efforts are being made to have Dias on the pitch on Sunday.
Man United could not count on Edinson Cavani and Scott McTominay in the last game. The last one was in quarantine, but he returned to training on Wednesday and will normally be in the starting team.
Hot stats:
Riyad Mahrez is the most fit player for City. He has been involved in 9 goals in his last 8 Premier League appearances (6 goals and 3 assists).
Manchester United are looking to win their fourth consecutive match in all competitions on the field of rival Manchester City, for the first time since November 2000.
City is looking to finish with 6 points ahead of Man Utd in a season only for the second time under Pep Guardiola's command, after succeeding in 2018/19.
Man United's last 6 away matches, in all competitions, had seen both teams to score
Probable line-ups:
Manchester City: Ederson; Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Stones; De Bruyne, Rodri, Silva; Mahrez, Foden, Sterling.
Manchester United: De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Maguire, Shaw; Fernandes, McTominay, Pogba; Elanga, Ronaldo, Sancho.
Man United have an appetite for Etihad victories and have the talent needed to produce another shock result here, but whether Rangnick's side have the defensive skills or attacking edge to do so is a different question to ask.
Apart from the surprise loss to Spurs, City have defeated almost everytbody at the Etihad this season and with a near fully-fit squad, we can only back a home win for the champions in this great derby!