Manchester United will face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon, the second Manchester derby of the Premier League season. United were beaten 2-0 at Old Trafford back in November in a match which shows the fragile state of United.
However, time has passed and United, despite looking far from convincing, have pulled through a string of positive results under the management of Ralf Rangnick. United may be out of luck lifting anything this season but have pride to play for.
United’s participation in the Emirates FA Cup ended in February and their UEFA Champions League participation rests on the round of 16 second leg clash with Atletico Madrid in a few weeks after a 1-1 draw in Madrid. Finishing at least fourth in the league is all United really have to play for.
That said, the future for United is all but certain. Rangnick will manage the club until the end of the season and until a new manager has been announced, United will not be ready to move on from this decade post-Sir Alex Ferguson which has been abject, infuriating and badly managed.
Manchester United:
De Gea;
Wan-Bissaka, Lindelöf, Maguire, Telles;
McTominay, Fred;
Sancho, Fernandes, Pogba;
Elanga
Substitutes:
Henderson; Bailly, Jones, Dalot; Mata, Lingard, Matic, Hannibal; Rashford
Manchester City:
Ederson;
Walker, Stones, Laporte, Cancelo;
De Bruyne, Rodri, Grealish;
Foden, Mahrez, Silva;
Substitutes:
Carson; Zinchenko, Mbete; McAtee, Gündogan, Fernandinho; Sterling, Jesus, Delap
United and City have met a total of 49 times in the Premier League. United have won 24 times, drawing nine matches with City winning 16 times. United have scored 70 goals, winning five penalties, scoring four. City have scored 63 goals, winning one penalty, missing it.
United have kept 18 clean sheets in these fixtures with City keeping 11. Discipline is a problem with United player shown 85 yellow cards and seven red cards and City players shown 108 yellow cards and one red card. The Manchester derby is usually a fiery clash.
Billy Meredith, Denis Law, Brian Kidd, Terry Cooke, Peter Schmeichel, Andrew Cole, Carlos Tevez, Owen Hargreaves, Abbie McManus, Jane Ross, Aoife Mannion, Charlie McNeill (academy) and Jadon Sancho have played for both teams in Manchester.
Meredith played over 700 matches for United and City combined in a 30-year period, including a five-year break in play because of WWI. Law, Kidd, Schmeichel, Cole, Tevez and Hargreaves were a success at United. Perhaps Sancho and McNeill can follow in their footsteps.
Written by John Walker
