Manchester Derby: Manchester United vs. Manchester City Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Manchester Derby between United and City is arguably one of the biggest city rivalries in the world in any sport. It headed to another level in the past decade or two, with the Citizens emerging as the powerhouse in England, becoming multiple champions in a matter of years. The Red Devils seem to be a bit better this season than in the previous few, yet, apparently not ready to attack the title. Meanwhile, City is in pursuit of Arsenal, the current EPL leader.

Apart from Manchester, there is a North London Derby, between Tottenham and Arsenal, and here you have the preview for the same.

Preview

Manchester United (+350) won five times in a row. Three of those victories have been in the Premiership and two in the FA Cup, where they reached the final stages. Now, what is major news (a positive one) for the Red Devils fans is that the defense stabilized.

Four of these five wins came with a clean sheet. Now, it must be said that United had a lot of luck, committing some mistakes that weren’t punished in the end. On the other hand, the offense delivers constantly, and for the moment, just one of those wins wasn’t with at least two goals scored.

Man Utd is confident at home, with eight consecutive wins, and nine in the past 10 at Trafford, with just one draw. In seven of the eight most recent events, we saw them delivering two or more hits.

Manchester City (-110) was ruthless against Chelsea. Not only that, the Citizens prevented them from scoring a goal in two events over the three days, but they scored four goals in the FA Cup event against the former European champions.

The Citizens have been without a defeat in five previous contests, winning five and having a draw. All these games were following a World Cup. Haaland is in excellent shape, and the pause didn’t leave any trace on the Norwegian. Overall, Man City is excellent upfront, with 12 goals scored during this run.

Meanwhile, what is interesting, is that four of the past five away games for City ended with under 2.5 goals, and those same games were with just one side netting.

Latest News

Greenwood, Sancho and Tuanzebe won’t be ready to play for the Red Devils.

Ruben Dias is still injured, and he is unclear for this event. Meanwhile, Laporte could be back in the protocol, but his chances of starting are minimal. Mendy is still suspended.

Head to Head Games

This is going to be the 189th episode of the Manchester Derby. United has 77 wins, City 58, and 53 games were without a winner. We saw them playing this year, and the result was quite humiliating for the Red Devils, who lost 6-3 at Etihad. It was one pretty hard slap in the face for Ten Hag and the boys back then in early October.

Prediction

City will expose United in so many ways, the most importantly in defense, where Varane, Martinez, etc, have had more fortune in the past than they played well. That’s why we think the Citizens’ attack (Haaland) will exploit all the weaknesses in the back. Their win is priced at -110, and we are backing up the champs to take all three points.

Pick: Man City -110