England Premier League
Saturday 7th December 2019
Kick off at 5:30pm GMT
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Match Preview:
The Manchester derby may not be as big as it was at the beginning of this decade, but it’s a Manchester derby and will always mean something.
For City they need to win to hang on to the distant hopes they have of stopping Liverpool and winning the league for a 3rd consecutive time. For United this is about re-establishing themselves and trying to at least make the top 4 and of course beating the old enemy, and we are in for a cracking match early evening on Saturday.
Manchester City looked back to their best in midweek the way they tore Burnley apart and won 4-1. The goals were so good if you could eat them you would have, and the joy on Pep Guardiola’s face said it all, City will hang in there and try their best for the league title.
This just hasn’t been a normal season by City’s standards, and losing 3 games by December has really hurt them. It is odd to look at the table and not even see them in the top 2 positions, and they have to settle for 3rd after Leicester’s brilliant start to the season. A win and a loss for Leicester should see City go 2nd again but of course they will be mindful of being a massive 11 points behind Liverpool, can they really catch the Reds up? If so they can’t afford to make any mistakes in this game.
The problem for City is that unlike other seasons they don’t seem unstoppable at home. True they have won 5 games and have gained 16 points from 21 but they also lost to Wolves here and there is a feeling that they have that side to them, where they don’t look as solid at the back as they did last season.
Manchester United got a massive victory in midweek and it was a psychological one too as they beat Tottenham at home 2-1. Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needed it after coming up against the man that he took over from at United, Jose Mourinho. Could this be a turning point for the club, or did they just up their game because of the story laid out before them?
The good news for United is that they have gone their last 4 games unbeaten with 2 wins and 2 draws and that has put them in 6th place but they are still 8 points behind the top 4. Away form has been the real question mark over the side where they have won just once this season, which was against Norwich. Their last away game ended in a 3-3 match against Sheffield United.
Team News:
Manchester City: Sergio Aguero looks like he will miss the derby but he hasn’t been 100% ruled out after his groin injury. The club have no new injuries coming into this game
Manchester United: Anthony Martial has a muscle injury and doesn’t look like he will be available for this game. Nemanja Matic could return after fitness issues but there has been no official update. Paul Pogba is being tipped to come back for this match but there has been no official comment. Marcos Rojo is pencilled in to return after his muscle problems
Man City vs Man Utd Head to Head:
Last season Manchester City won the derby at home 3-1.
From the last six league games Manchester United only have 1 victory.
3 from the last 4 meetings has seen both teams to score.
In this decade only two games between the clubs has finished 0-0.
Man City vs Man Utd Prediction:
We expect United to have their chances and create quite a few threats on the City goal but City should be able to win this game. They have only had one major test so far at home in the league which came in the form of Chelsea and they won that game and won it well after going a goal down. On paper City could score quite a few and ease to a win and United will have to be fully focused to get something here. If this was at Od Trafford it could be very difficult for Guardiola’s men but we believe they will have enough in the bag to get the win here. They can’t even think of failing as by the weekend they could be 14 points behind Liverpool. We feel we will see a very good game of football at a very high level and there is no reason that United cannot play their part.
Marcus Rashford may not be on the winning side, but he's in a good spell of form, his pace will be dangerous on the counter, and he is a great price and worth backing in this game to score.
Man City vs Man Utd Betting Tips:
Manchester City to be beating Manchester United at half time at 1.72
Anytime goalscorer: Marcus Rashford at 3.75
A red card to be shown in the game at 5.00
© Copyright topfootballtipster.com 2019
