Manchester United vs Manchester City Preview:
Possible starting lineups:
Manchester United:
De Gea, Young, Lindelof, Smalling, Shaw, Herrera, Pogba, Matic, Lingard, Rashford, Sanchez
Manchester City:
Ederson, Walker, Laporte, Stones, Mendy, David Silva, Fernandinho, Bernardo Silva, Sane, Aguero, Sterling
It's time for the "Manchester derby", a derby with big tradition. The first meeting between the two teams occurred on 12 November 1881, when West Gorton – who would later become Manchester City – hosted Newton Heath – who would later become Manchester United. The game finished 3:0 in favor of the Heathens (United). At that time, the clubs were just two of many fledgling sides in the Manchester area, and the fixture had no special significance.
The first league meeting between the teams came in the season 1894/95 season, when Manchester City lost 2:5 at Hyde Road. The first meeting between the clubs to take place at the highest level of English football occurred in December 1906, a 3:0 City win in a First Division match.
As of 11 November 2018, there have been 177 competitive meetings between the teams. United have won 73 and City 52, the remaining 52 games finishing as draws. City won the reverse fixture this season with 3:1 thanks to the goals scored by David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Ilkay Gundogan, while Anthony Martial scored for United.
The biggest victories have been to City who have won 6:1 on two occasions in the official league (both times in the away fixture at Old Trafford) on 23 January 1926 and 23 October 2011. You probably remember the last one. But on 14 April 1941 during a war league derby match at Maine Rd, United beat City 7:1, which remains the biggest victory between the two sides overall. However, this result has been omitted as the official league was suspended due to the war situation. The largest attendance for a Manchester derby was 78,000 on 20 September 1947, a time when both clubs were playing at Maine Road, as Old Trafford was being repaired following damage sustained in the Second World War.
Now about the match. It is very important for both sides as City are fighting for the title, while United are looking for the Champions League spot. Pep Guardiola's men are favorites, but United must try to get something from this match. However, Solskjaer's men are in poor form. First they suffered a 4:0 aggregate defeat to Barcelona and were eliminated from the Champions League. On Sunday they suffered another painful defeat. The Red Devils lost 4:0 to Everton at Goodison Park. It was United biggest defeat to any opposition since October 2016 when they lost with the same result from Chelsea. The defense looks bad, United have gone 11 consecutive matches without a clean sheet in all competitions for the first time since 1998. The atmosphere in the squad is far from ideal, while the players confidence is low. Solskjaer has some positive news ahead of this match. Ander Herrera who missed the last five games, has returned to training and could start here. Luke Shaw served a two-match ban and he is also available, but Antonio Valencia and Eric Bailly remain sidelined.
Manchester City are on the second place with 86 points. They are two points behind the actual leaders Liverpool, but have a match in hand, this one. The Citizens will become champions if they win their remaining four matches in the Premier League. Pep Guardiola's men will also face Burnley, Leicester City and Brighton until the end of the season. The actual form is good, City have won 10 successive Premier League matches. It is their longest streak since a run of 18 between August and December 2017, which remains the top-flight record. This weekend they obtained a narrow 1:0 win against Tottenham at the Etihad thanks to the debut goal scored by Phil Foden. He became the third youngest City player to score in the Premier League after Micah Richards and Daniel Sturridge. Bernardo Silva should also be mentioned, he was directly involved in seven of Manchester City's 15 shots in the match, having three attempts and creating four. For this match Guardiola has one bad news - Kevin De Bruyne suffered injury on Saturday and won't feature here. His absence is a big handicap.
Manchester United vs Manchester City Prediction:
As I wrote above, this is a big derby between two Manchester's clubs. However, it seems to be derby only at paper. In reality, there is a class difference between two sides. City are in series of 10 victories in the Premier League and the players confidence is high. United, meanwhile, are out of form at the moment. They suffered a heavy 4:0 defeat at Goodison Park on Sunday and the atmosphere in the squad is bad. I see only one possible outcome here.
Manchester United vs Manchester City Pick: Away win @ 1.50 with 1xBet