Ahead is an absolute monster of a weekend in European football! As we covered already, in four different articles, Saturday brings us El Clasico. While Sunday provides the Manchester Derby. Despite the fact that Manchester City have been a solid tier or two above Manchester United for most of the past decade, this series remains very competitive and balanced.
You can look up the stats, perhaps in the archives of this website, and you’ll see that the numbers are very even, right down to goal differential.
Manchester Derby FYIs
Kickoff: Oct 29, 4:30pm, Old Trafford
Starting XI Predictions: United City
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
Odds/Probability: United Win 4/1, 20% | City 8/13, 61.9% | Draw 3/1, 25%
Table Position: United 8th, 15 pts City 2nd, 21 pts
Premier League Form: United WWLWL City WLLWW
City are obviously heavily favored here, as their form has been far superior to United thus far this season. Not to mention they’re reigning treble winners and boast a side that is getting closer to full fitness. However, football is all about the unexpected, and pretty much anything can happen at any time.
Look no further than United’s very last match!
They played TOTALLY AWFUL for the first half, at home against FC Copenhagen in the UEFA Champions League group stages.
Yet they still won, and the two main heroes happened to be Andre Onana and Harry Maguire, i.e. the two players who have arguably been criticized the most (deservedly so).
So expect the unexpected in the Manchester Derby! And yes, we dropped Casemiro in our lineup prediction. Came very close to dropping Marcus Rashford too!
Manchester United Starting XI Prediction for Manchester Derby
Andre Onana; Victor Lindelof, Raphael Varane, Jonny Evans, Diogo Dalot; Scott McTominay, Mason Mount; Antony, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford; Rasmus Hojlund.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager 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’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.