For Manchester City it is, without doubt, the worst season since Pep Guardiola took the helm. Yet even in this circumstance Manchester United are not managing to do better than their hated cousins. With eight games left in the Premier League, the Red Devils are 14 points behind the Cityzens and are unlikely to be a major player on the continental scene next year, unless they manage to win the Europa League, the only competition that could still bring some satisfaction to Ruben Amorim’s men.
The defeat, the umpteenth of the season, suffered in the last midweek match against Nottingham Forest (1-0), was a sign of surrender: United remain confined to the right side of the table, in thirteenth place. And with more than 10 points to make up on the seventh placed team. It’s normal that the Portuguese coach is now only thinking about the cup: it can’t be ruled out that in the derby he might make some calculations in view of the away game scheduled for next Thursday in Lyon. Manchester City, on the other hand, must try to finish in the top five to at least guarantee qualification for the Champions League and “save” a season in which almost nothing has worked. The Cityzens – at the time of writing fifth, one point behind fourth-placed Chelsea – are in a real tussle (5 teams within 5 points of each other) but in the midweek round they returned to winning ways, beating Leicester 2-0 thanks to goals from Marmoush and Grealish.
Amorim, another trip up for Guardiola?
Old Trafford will be the setting for the third clash of the season between Amorim and Guardiola: the Portuguese coach got the better of his Catalan counterpart both in November, when he was still in charge of Sporting, and in December in the first derby of the season, which ended 2-1 to Manchester United, who came back from behind in the last two minutes with goals from Bruno Fernandes and Diallo.
Amorim’s hope is to be able to call up the recovering Mainoo and Shaw for the derby. However, some changes are expected compared to Nottingham: in the attacking midfield, for example, former Chelsea player Mount could replace the disappointing Garnacho. Dalot and Dorgu will play on the wings, while the defense will be made up of Maguire, Yoro and de Ligt. In City the big absentee is obviously Haaland, who will be out for several weeks. He will be replaced by January’s big signing, the Egyptian Marmoush. We will see Foden and De Bruyne again from the first minute, who came on as a substitute against the Foxes.
Odds comparison
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The prediction
City haven’t solved their problems but at the moment they seem to be doing better than their cousins, who are “distracted” by their only remaining objective: the Europa League. Therefore, a positive result for Guardiola’s team cannot be ruled out in a match that, along the lines of the first leg, should see at least three goals.
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The probable line-ups for Manchester United-Manchester City
MANCHESTER UNITED (3-4-2-1): Onana; de Ligt, Maguire, Yoro; Dalot, Bruno Fernandes, Ugarte, Dorgu; Mount, Zirkzee; Hojlund.
MANCHESTER CITY (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Matheus Nunes, Gvardiol, Ruben Dias, O’Reilly; Gundogan, Nico Gonzalez; Foden, De Bruyne, Grealish; Marmoush.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-2