Manchester City lost two of their first three matches this season, and at The Etihad that is simply not acceptable. This is Man City, where the standards are always up in the stratosphere. So this Manchester Derby is basically now a high pressure grudge match. All Manchester derbies are high pressure rivalry clashes, but this one features two sides desperate for a win.
United are in full blown crisis mode, as nothing about the Ruben Amorim era has actually been good so far.
Manchester Derby FYIs
Kickoff: Sun, Sept. 14, 4:30pm, Etihad Stadium
Starting XI Predictions: Man United Man City
Team News: Man United Man City
Full Injury Updates: United Part 1 United Part 2 City Part 1 City Part 2
Google Result Probability: Man United Win 21%, Man City Win 56%, Draw 23%
As for Pep Guardiola, well he has a full blown injury crisis on his hands. His squad kind of picks itself at this point, due to the long list of injured players. New arrival Gigi Donnarumma will have to start in goal. After all he was brought in to replace Ederson.
Manchester City Starting Lineup Prediction vs Manchester United
Gianluigi Donnarumma; Rico Lewis, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol; Rodri; Oscar Bobb, Savinho, Nico O’Reilly, Jeremy Doku; Erling Haaland
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter