Manchester United will host Manchester City on Saturday afternoon at the Theatre of Dreams in a highly anticipated Premier League clash at Old Trafford. Here is our expert guess on Manchester United vs Manchester City football prediction for the Premier League match of the season.
Team news
Manchester United
In the first half of Manchester United’s match against Atalanta, Raphael Varane was hurt and has been ruled out for a month with a hamstring ailment.
If Victor Lindelof is assessed unfit to play as early as Saturday, United will be forced to resort to a back four.
Solskjaer is unlikely to trust Alex Telles or Diogo Dalot in the left wing-back position and Luke Shaw could slot into the back three if necessary.
In midweek, Fred and Edinson Cavani were rotated out of the team, but they will both start against Manchester City on Saturday.
Manchester City
Aymeric Laporte received a red card in last weekend’s 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace thus he will serve a one-match suspension against Manchester United on Saturday.
Despite the fact that Raheem Sterling has yet to score against Manchester United in 23 games he has struggled for form all season and is unlikely to start tonight.
As a result of the absence of Ferran Torres, one of Phil Foden or Kevin De Bruyne will play as the false nine.
Both Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker started on Wednesday night, thus Oleksandar Zinchenko could be a surprise starting in this game.
Manchester United vs Manchester City Prediction
To save job at Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was supposedly given three matches after a 5-0 loss to Liverpool and since then he has beaten Tottenham and drew with Atalanta. The back three performed admirably against a mediocre Tottenham team, but fell short against Atalanta. That defense looks much more shaky on Saturday with Raphael Varane ruled out.
On Wednesday night Manchester City defeated Club Bruges 4-1 but Pep Guardiola’s side was surprisingly powerful. Even though both matches are in Manchester, it will be intriguing to see how they do here given the short turnaround between matches.
Only Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp have won more games against Pep Guardiola’s sides than Solskjaer, but it’s difficult to see United coming out on top. When they face a half-decently coached team, they appear exceedingly susceptible.
Match Facts
Under 2.5 goals have been scored in each of Man United’s last six encounters versus Man City in all competitions.
In all competitions, Man United has kept a clean sheet in 5 of their last 6 matches against Man City.
Man City has won 17 out of their past 19 road games (Premier League).
In Man United’s last three games, there have been more than 2.5 goals scored (Premier League).
Lineup
Manchester United possible starting lineup: De Gea; Bailly, Lindelof, Maguire; Wan-Bissaka, McTominay, Fred, Shaw; Fernandes; Ronaldo, Cavani
Manchester City possible starting lineup: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Stones, Cancelo; Silva, Rodri, De Bruyne; Jesus, Foden, Grealish
Our Prediction: Manchester United 1-3 Manchester City
