LIVE STREAMING: Manchester United versus Manchester City [Click to watch]
Rivals Manchester United and Manchester City meet for the 52nd time in the Premier League (PL), with United bidding to end a run of three straight H2H league defeats; their worst run of derby defeats since 2013/2014 season. Hope is high that the Red Devils can do just that after booking their place in the semi-final in midweek, a 3-0 result which added to the positive news of an agreed deal for the imposing target man Wout Weghorst.
Just four points separate the city rivals within the top four, and with such little in it in terms of their respective league records this season. United may feel like the rank outsiders the odds suggest. In fact, Erik ten Hag’s men haven’t conceded in almost five hours of play and remain unbeaten in seven straight PL home games (W6, D1), a run which includes victories over spurs and league leaders Arsenal.
Also, on double domestic cup duty over the past week which saw City fall to shock 2-0 EFL Cup quarter final exit at the hands of rock-bottom Southampton, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City will be raring to get back to the small matter of a PL title race after reducing Arsenal’s lead to five points with a 1-0 win over Chelsea. Having scored ten goals across their last two derbies and six in October’s reverse, Guardiola’s men need only three here to equal the most goals ever scored against United by a single opponent in one season.
Such an eventuality would perhaps be a fitting way to mark Guardiola’s 500th game in top-flight management. With 254 Bundeliga and La Liga games in the bank before his 245 PL games at City’s helm, the smooth-talking Spaniard is simply unmatched in terms of win-rate by any manager in Europe’s top-five leagues who have been in charge of 100+ games (76% – W379, D68, L52).
Marcus Rashford has scored in three consecutive PL outings for Manchester United but now seeks to break a personal five-game duck in the Manchester derby. Known affectionately as a ‘cheat code’ by many PL fans, City’s Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick in the reverse to become the first player to hit three trebles in consecutive PL home games, though he is yet to pick up the match ball on his travels for City.
There’s been a goal scored within ten minutes in each of the last four H2Hs
