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The Manchester Derby Cometh

Premier League football is a magical thing in more ways than one, and one of the fixtures that defines that magic is the Manchester derby. Of course, there are a parade of other derbies that have and continue to take place on a year by year basis in England’s top flight division, but few hold the same kind of stakes from a ‘quality’ perspective. Both clubs are considered to be amongst the biggest in England, Europe and the world, and there are very few derbies that can claim to possess that kind of reputation outside of Real Madrid vs Barcelona.

Anyway, we aren’t here to talk about the Spanish, because English pride is something that never fails to shine through when it comes to the wonderful world of the beautiful game – and we’re really interested to see how this one goes down. You never can quite definitively predict what’s going to happen in one of these matches, especially when there are roughly a million different storylines to speak of heading into it. Sure, it could wind up being incredibly dull for the millions watching around the globe, but somehow, we don’t think that’s going to be how this one unfolds.

Pep Guardiola will be drumming the importance of this fixture into his squad, to the point where they’ll likely be more prepared for this game than any other. That’s hardly surprising when you consider the many reports that have suggested he’s someone who works everything down to the smallest of details, because this is the equivalent of two old school boxers going toe to toe. One is going to drop eventually and it’s just a case of waiting it out, picking your moment, and seeing whether or not you can capitalise on it when the opportunity presents itself.

In the red corner (yes the boxing references will continue) we’ve got the Portuguese wizard Jose Mourinho. Of course, he hasn’t exactly given off the impression of a wizard over the course of the last few months and potentially even years, with The Special One slipping down the ranks in terms of where he’s placed in the ‘best managers in the world’ rankings. Now, though, it certainly seems as if he’s come through this latest tough period with flying colours, and as we look ahead to the future, there’s a chance that he could wind up remaining at Old Trafford against all of the odds.

It’s rare for City to be on a bad run of form courtesy of just how strong they are throughout every area of the pitch, as proven by their run over the last six games. They kicked off this stretch with a 5-0 demolition of Burnley followed up by an easy 3-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk, and we aren’t exaggerating when we say that it could’ve been even uglier. Professional wins over Tottenham and Fulham soon followed as fans began to talk about their reign of dominance in an even more positive light, which was solidified by 6-1 and 6-0 maulings of Southampton and Shakhtar again respectively.

United have been ever so slightly more inconsistent but it’s hard to measure up to the likes of City, especially given how much better they seem to get every single week. Their latest six game stretch began with a dramatic come from behind win over Newcastle United, which some are viewing as the turning point in their campaign. A 2-2 draw with Chelsea, in which they impressed fans once again, was followed up by a close loss to Juventus in the Champions League. Since then they’ve been on a three game run of 2-1 wins over Bournemouth, Everton and bizarrely Juventus, as they were able to avenge their loss from just a few weeks prior.

These two teams are, unsurprisingly, exceptionally familiar with one another’s work and that’s been made evident in how many games they’ve played against each other. United lead the overall head to head standings 73-51 with 52 draws thrown in there for good measure, which shouldn’t come as a shock given how long United held a stranglehold over English football for. In their last meeting, ironically, United pulled the wool over City’s eyes yet again by coming from behind to beat them 3-2 back in April – delaying their title celebrations in the process.

The big miss is going to be Kevin De Bruyne for City although when you look at their last few results, it doesn’t exactly seem like they’ve been struggling without him as their strength in depth has been able to shine through for all to see. Raheem Sterling is one of the men who has stepped up in his absence and he’ll hope to lead the line here, with Gabriel Jesus being tipped to return to the bench which should tell you all you need to know about Pep’s selection headache.

Romelu Lukaku could make his big return in this one, although given the stigma he has of not being able to score in big games, it would seem as if the pressure could be on the Belgian in a big way if he is selected to start for the entire 90 minutes. Diogo Dalot has also been out through injury as of late whereas Antonio Valencia is expected to return in some capacity, and while he may not break straight back into the starting XI, he’s a man who will always be in contention.

Manchester City vs Manchester United Betting Odds

Logic dictates that City, also known as one of the most dominant sides in recent times in Premier League football, will ease to victory as they continue their surge towards a second consecutive title. Alas, United don’t seem to know when to quit and that’s going to be the most dangerous thing that the hosts need to keep an eye on throughout the entire 90 minutes. We think City are going to take the lead early on which will lead many to assume they’ll run through their bitter rivals, when in reality, the Red Devils are going to play things at their own tempo and keep pushing forward.

They’ll equalise just before half time before City put together another phenomenal passage of play to break the defence, handing them a 2-1 advantage. Then, United will equalise for the second time in the game, before a big error hands Guardiola’s side the chance to win it all from the penalty spot – which they’ll do successfully. That leaves us with a final scoreline of 3-2 to Manchester City and as unrealistic as that may seem to a lot of people, we’ve seen these two put on showcases before – and we’re confident it’ll happen again this Sunday.