Man City vs. Man United | The Preview

The derby of Manchester will take place tonight! The Citizens will be the hosts, but in matches like this the home team stadium isn’t of that big importance. Manchester City recorded a 2-1 victory in the first game of the season between these two teams at Old Trafford. And since then Manchester United have only lost on 2 more occasions!

The Red Devils have only lost 3 times in The Premier League! They have the second best defence in the league and are on a run of 23 Premiership matches without a defeat. The Jose Mourinho’s players won 3 consecutive games in all competitions and recently found a place in the Europa League semi-finals, where they will play Celta Vigo.

On the other hand, Manchester City are just 1 point in front of their rivals in the standings. That’s why the match is of great importance for both teams. The Citizens were eliminated from the FA Cup after a 1-2 defeat to Arsenal after extra time. However, I don’t think that this defeat will affect them negatively.

Injured players

Sergio Aguero and David Silva are doubtful for the clash, as both the players received injuries in Man City’s last game against Arsenal. However, they have been involved in a light training and may be included in the squad. Bacary Sagna is the other big omission for The Citizens. Jose Mourinho has lots of problems with injuries. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Phil Jones, Juan Mata, Marcos Rojo and Chris Smalling are sidelined. Paul Pogba will surely recover from his minor injury, which he received against Burnley last weekend.

Head to Head

Manchester United have an advantage in the Head to Head matches between these two teams. There have been 173 games between City and United in total. The Red Devils have won 72, while there have been 50 victories for Manchester City and 51 draws. When visiting, Man United have recorded 32 victories. The Citizens have taken the three points on 31 occasions. So, it’s obvious that the strengths are equal.

The last time these two teams met in a Premier League match at The Etihad Stadium, Manchester United took the three points. Marcus Rashford scored the only goal in the game, which took place on 20th March 2016.

To continue with, Jose Mourinho’s teams always struggle when they meet Guardiola’s ones. The Special One has recorded 4 victories against his opponent, while Pep Guardiola has won 8 matches. There have been 6 draws.

I think that the boys, who are in condition to play in the next match, realize well how important that game is to us! For example, Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial gave 100% in the last match against Burnley, which was very important to us. I didn’t believe that Wayne was ready to play 90 minutes, but he surprised me. Our yesterday’s training would have started at 3 p.m., but when I came at 10:30 a.m. I saw the players were already on the pitch. That’s what I expect from my players – dedication. Jose Mourinho