It’s Manchester Derby weekend! And it’s the first edition of this huge game for Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim. The Portugese is very excited to take on Manchester City. “I cannot treat it like a normal derby,” the recently installed boss said at his weekly Friday press briefing.
“It should be like two great teams fighting for the title, and it is not that in this moment. So it is just one more game with a very good opponent. Both teams are struggling in the moment so I hope in future I can feel that real feeling of a derby [that has title implications].”
Manchester Derby FYIs
Kickoff: Sun, Dec 15, 4:30pm, Etihad Stadium
Starting XI Predictions: Man United Man City
Team News: Man United Man City
Probability: United Win 19% | City Win 61% | Draw 20%
So with all that hype and hoopla now covered, let’s get to what starting lineup that Amorim might pick here, in hopes of getting that desired result in the Sunday matinee feature fixture.
Manchester United Starting XI Prediction at Manchester City
Andre Onana; Noussair Mazraoui, Matthijs De Ligt, Lisandro Martinez; Amad Diallo, Manuel Ugarte, Kobbie Mainoo, Diogo Dalot; Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho; Rasmus Hojlund
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, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. 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.