United make the short trip to the blue half for the Manchester Derby

On Saturday, Manchester City host Manchester United for the first face off of the season and for the 179th Manchester derby. A day marked on the calendar of every Manchester supporter, no matter the colour.

The noisy neighbours are playing against each other, but the balance of power is rather different. United currently sit sixth in the Premier League, nine points behind City.

 On one hand, the hosts have only lost one game in their last 10 games, scoring 24 goals and conceding 12. On the other hand, the Red Devils lost two games out of their previous 10, finding the net 20 times and receiving 13 goals.

Considering their recent form, a close contest might be at stake and since it’s a derby the unexpected can be very expected.

Team News:

Both sides are suffering from injuries. Important midfielder Paul Pogba will continue his absence but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed he might be back before the end of the month. Diogo Dalot, Eric Bailly and Timothy Fosu-Mensah are still unavailable. 

United fans can still pick out a positive, Anthony Martial who missed their latest win against Spurs after picking up an injury in their 2-2 draw against Aston Villa will be back. 

For Pep Guardiola’s men the situation is rather similar. City’s leading top scorer, Sergio Aguero won’t be playing. 

Nonetheless, Guardiola confirmed the return of Oleksandr Zinchenko, who has recovered from a knee injury. Another important return for Cityzens will be Ilkay Gundogan, who served his one match suspension after accumulating numerous yellow cards.

With both managers refusing to take the game lightly, Man United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sees it as a chance to measure the team’s progress:

“Before everyone was doom and gloom but it’s a chance to turn that doubt into belief and if we can manage to get another performance, the confidence, the way we played against Tottenham, then we can come out of it with a result.”

While Pep Guardiola is not undermining the opposition despite the gap on the table:

 “I judge specific players, specific qualities. They’re incredibly fast up-front, good set pieces with [Harry] Maguire, [and have]physicality and aggression. I had a good impression when I saw them.”

All the ingredients are here for an intriguing classical derby, tomorrow at 17:30.

Head-to-head:

Manchester City wins: 53

Draws: 52

Manchester United wins: 73