Tomorrow’s Manchester derby at Old Trafford has a whole lot on the line for the both sides. Manchester City need a win to maintain control of their own destiny in the Premier League title race. Manchester United need all three points, and some help, to get themselves back into the top four.
City come into this match as overwhelming favorites, and it’s easy to understand why- they have been dominant in the new year and United are coming off the worst loss of the post-Fergie era.
Factor in how City have dominated this series as of late too. United have only won a single Manchester derby league game at home since 2011, and that was in 2015. If you’re going to wager, like one can gamble at VoltCasino, then you’ll see just about everybody backing City. In fact, Google’s result probability sees a Manchester City win at 66%, a draw at 20% and a Manchester United win at 14%.
Pep Guardiola has emerged victorious in both of his previous trips to Old Trafford, but the series used to be very one-sided the other way. Prior to 2011, City only won one away derby match in 37 years. The Theatre of Dreams used to be a house of nightmares for the blue team in Manchester, but Guardiola says that making the trip cross-town isn’t “scary” anymore.
The third year boss also articulated how his club closed the balance of power gap in the rivalry over the years- making substantial investments in the club and building up the player roster.
“The reason why [City have a good recent record] is the fact this club, in the last decade, grew a lot and it is not scary to go there and play when before it was maybe more difficult,” Guardiola told a news conference.
“The distance between the quality of the players that Manchester City had in the last 10 season made this game a little bit more equal than before, when in the past the gap was a little bit bigger.”
“It is a derby, and all the times we play against United they are special games and the players do their best for themselves, the fans and the club,” he added.
“I saw the game and I can imagine what will happen against us. It’s a different game — the Everton game is over.”
Manchester Derby FYIs
Kickoff- Wednesday Apr 24, Old Trafford 8pm
Injury report for both sides: go to this link
Starting XI Predictions: Manchester City Manchester United
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer press conference quotes: go to this link
Form Guide: Manchester United LWLWL Manchester City WWWWW
Prediction- Manchester City 3, Manchester United 1
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.