Manchester United have travelled to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City in the Premier League this evening. After beating Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United jumped to to sixth place in the Premier League and are 11 points adrift of Pep Guardiola’s City and a further 11 points short of league leaders Liverpool.
The victory over Spurs gave United something to boost their confidence after a run of three matches without a victory and two Premier League draws against Sheffield United and Aston Villa, teams which were promoted from the Championship last season. It was not a good pair of results for United. Back to winning ways though, Solskjaer and United will be boosted and should take a game to City, who are not as good as they might think.
Manchester United:
De Gea;
Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw;
McTominay, Fred;
James, Lingard, Rashford;
Martial
Substitutes:
Romero; Young, Tuanzebe, Williams; Mata, Pereira; Greenwood
Manchester City:
Ederson;
Walker, Stones, Fernandinho, Angel;
De Bruyne, Rodri, D. Silva;
B. Silva, Jesus, Sterling
Substitutes:
Bravo; Mendy, Cancelo, Otamendi; Gundogan, Mahrez, Foden
United and Manchester City have played 178 times in the history of both clubs. United has won 73 times, drawing 52 times and losing 53 times. The first match was played in 1891; a 5-1 victory for Newton Heath (United) in the FA Cup. United have not beaten City since the 2017/18 season, which incidentially came in this fixture, a 3-2 victory at the Etihad with Paul Pogba inspiring United with two quick goals coming from 2-0 down.
Last season, United lost both home and away to City; 3-1 at the Etihad and 2-0 at Old Trafford. This season, City are not as good as they once were and with problems in defence, it could be a match for United to take advantage. After beating Spurs on Wednesday evening, Solskjaer’s side should be up for the challenge of beating City. However, some will worry more about Liverpool winning the Premier League if this happens.
