Manchester United will head to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon to take on league leaders and rivals Manchester City. We are currently second in the table as we battle to finish inside the top four come the end of the season. United will want to be the team that ends City’s 21-game winning run while continuing their excellent unbeaten away run.
The Red Devils arrived into this match off the back of our 0-0 goalless draw against Crystal Palace in midweek. We managed to hold onto second position after Leicester City drew against Burnley despite two draws in a row. However, we are only five points cleared of top-four rivals Everton, who have a game in hand on us.
United Cannot Let Their Form Slide Against City
United has drawn the last three games across all competitions failing to find the net on each of those occasions. We have shared the points in the last four of five league games, which has seen the challenge for the title now over. Whilst we will be focused on the game against City, one eye will be on the following fixture, which will be AC Milan in the Europa League last 16.
We cannot let our form in the league slide as we are entering a key period of the season. We have upcoming fixtures against our rivals, Man City, West Ham United, and Tottenham in the next three out of four league games.
The absence of Paul Pogba through injury has been keenly felt in the last few weeks. At the attacking end of the pitch, the goals have not been forthcoming. Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, and Mason Greenwood have struggled for form. United are second-highest goalscorers in the league with 53. Bruno Fernandes has scored 15 of those goals, who in recent weeks has struggled and not been able to provide the inspiration that United have needed.
We may have dropped to third in the table come the end of Saturday night as Leicester City looks to bounce back after two disappointing results in the league. United could face being outside the top-four if our form dips with our rivals overtaking us.
We are unbeaten away from Old Trafford since January 2020 and we will want to continue this run on Sunday with a better performance than the previous three games.
Opposition Preview
Manchester City comes into this game after beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-1 in the midweek league fixture to continue their impressive winning run. Guardiola’s side is currently unbeaten in the last 21 games having won them all. Whilst the race for the title is not mathematically over, City does hold a 14 point lead over United. They will be looking to go one step closer to the title on Sunday.
City has not lost a league game since November 21st. They have won every match in the league since back-to-back draws in December, which had included a 0-0 draw against United in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford.
Manchester City also has the Carabao Cup Final in April where they faced Tottenham Hotspur as they look to secure the first domestic trophy of the season. They are in a strong position to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League as they hold a 2-0 lead from the first leg against Borussia Monchengladbach.
They have the best home form in the league as they have taken 35 points from their 14 matches. City has only conceded nine times at the Etihad this season as John Stones and Reuben Dias have formed a great centre-back partnership.
Manchester City vs Manchester United Match Details
Teams: Manchester City vs Manchester United
Date: March 7th, 2020 (Sunday)
KO Time: 16:30 GMT
Competition: Premier League
Stadium: Etihad Stadium
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Managers: Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Pep Guardiola
Manchester United Team News
United are without goalkeeper David De Gea who returned to Spain following the arrival of his first child. This will see Dean Henderson given another opportunity to impress between the sticks. Paul Pogba, Juan Mata, and Phil Jones still remain out through injury. Donny Van De Beek and Anthony Martial may return to the squad after not featuring against Crystal Palace.
Harry Maguire is likely to be partnered by Victor Lindelof as he returns to the centre of the defence. Ole may decide to utilise Daniel James on the right given his good performances of late meaning Mason Greenwood drops down to the bench.
Manchester City vs Manchester United Pre-Match Press Conference
During the pre-match press conference, Ole was asked given the Manchester City is playing at the moment and if we were to finish second behind them, how much of an achievement would be. He responded, “Our focus is just on this one game and not where we are going to end up. We just have to be the best possible Man United and end up trying to improve on last season, of course. That means moving up the table, getting more points, hopefully challenge or get to a final and get a trophy. What other teams do, we can’t control. We just have to keep at it ourselves, challenge ourselves and, of course, at the moment they’re ahead of us by a fair distance. Sunday’s a good chance to test ourselves against a good team.”
Ole was also asked what the biggest difference between the two clubs is at the moment. He said, “I don’t worry. I can only control what’s happening here at Man United. There are so many differences between the clubs. If it’s the clubs you talk about I can sit here and talk about a lot. At the moment, they’re the only team ahead of us so we want to claw back point one them and get closer to them. They’ve gone through a fantastic spell at the moment. Great form, 21 wins. We’ve have 21 away games in the league unbeaten so one record is going to be broken. Let’s see which one it is.”
Manchester City Team News
For our opponents, Pep Guardiola did reveal that he has a fully fit squad to choose from as Nathan Ake has recovered from his muscular injury. There will be changes to the starting eleven that played against Wolves as Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden, Stones, and Oleksandr Zinchenko are expected to return.
Guardiola will have to decide who will lead the attacking line as he may opt to play Raheem Sterling through the middle. Phil Foden and Bernando Silva would operate in the wide areas. This would mean Gabriel Jesus, Sergio Aguero, and Riyad Mahrez will have to settle for a place on the bench.
Form Guide
United’s Premier League form: WDDWDD
United’s form (all competitions): DWWDDD
City’s Premier League form: WWWWWW
City’s form (all competitions): WWWWWW
Interesting Facts
- Manchester United is looking to win three consecutive away games in all competitions against Manchester City for the first time since a run of four between November 1993 and November 2000. (source: Opta).
- Manchester United are unbeaten in 21 away Premier League matches (W13 D8) – in topflight history, only Arsenal have had a longer away unbeaten run. (source: Opta)
- Ole Gunnar Solskjær could become the first manager in Manchester United’s history to win each of his first three away meetings in all competitions with Manchester City. (source: Opta).
- Manchester United’s Anthony Martial has scored away in the Premier League against Man City in both 2018-19 and 2019-20. Only Wayne Rooney (4) and Eric Cantona (3) have scored in more away Manchester derbies for the Red Devils in the Premier League, with only Cantona doing so in three consecutive appearances. (source: Opta)
- Manchester United have not conceded a league goal against Manchester City since December 2019 courtesy of Nicolas Otamendi. However, United are yet to score against City this season in two attempts.
- The last time United have failed to win four games in a row was September to October 2019 (W0 D3 L1) against Arsenal, AZ Alkmaar, Newcastle and Liverpool.
- Luke Shaw is set to make his 120th League Appearance in Red.
Manchester City vs Manchester United Predicted Lineup
Henderson; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; McTominay, Fred; James, Fernandes, Rashford; Cavani
Prediction
United has won the last three of the six meetings against City across all competitions, with us only losing twice. Both of these defeats came at Old Trafford. We have the capability to cause City a few problems but equally, they can do the same to us. The players need to go out there and give a much better performance than the one given at Palace in midweek.
Predicted Score
Manchester City 1-2 Manchester United
