Manchester City will entertain Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening hoping to close the gap to second-placed Leicester City by claiming maximum points at the expense of their local rivals. Both teams will come into this encounter with a midweek victory under their belts. We can expect an exciting Manchester derby full of goals and drama this weekend.
Talking Tactics
Pep Guardiola will opt for a 4-3-3 formation and make a few changes to his starting XI for this weekend. The English champions will try to dominate possession in their own backyard so that they can orchestrate enough goal-scoring opportunities to see off Man United’s challenge on Saturday.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will set-up his team in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Mason Greenwood given the responsibility to lead the charge up top. The Norwegian head coach needs to find a way to outwit Guardiola tactically so that his side can come away with a result from the Etihad. The Red Devils will look to trouble the Man City defenders on the counter and will rely mostly on the pace and guile of Rashford and James.
Team News
Manchester City
Sergio Aguero will not be available for this derby as he is still recovering from his injury. Both Aymeric Laporte and Leroy Sane remain long-term absentees for the Citizens. Guardiola will also be sweating on the fitness of Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Manchester City Predicted XI
Ederson, Cancelo, Stones, Fernandinho, Mendy, Gundogan, Rodri, De Bruyne, Sterling, Jesus, Mahrez
Manchester United
Both Anthony Martial and Diogo Dalot are unlikely to recover in time to feature in the local derby on Saturday. Nemanja Matic is also a significant doubt, but even if he recovers, Solskjaer will probably name him on the bench.
Manchester United Predicted XI
De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Williams, McTominay, Fred, James, Mata, Rashford, Greenwood
Key Men
Manchester City
Gabriel Jesus will come into this game on the back of scoring a brace against Burnley in midweek. The Brazilian striker will be expected to put in a similar match-winning display this weekend. Kevin De Bruyne will be the home team’s chief creator at the centre of the park and will cause a lot of headaches for Solskjaer’s defenders.
Manchester United
Marcus Rashford will carry most of the goal-scoring workload down the left flank. Daniel James needs to step his game up after putting in a couple of average displays for Man United in recent weeks.
Odds
The bookmakers have made Manchester City a heavy favourite to emerge victorious in the Manchester derby on Saturday after they were priced at 3/10. The draw is listed as 9/2 while the Red Devils are 33/4 underdogs to pull off an upset win at the Etihad.
