Manchester City vs Manchester United Preview

Premier League title holders Manchester City will welcome fierce rivals Manchester United to the Etihad this Sunday in the 51st Premier League edition of the Manchester Derby.

Pep Guardiola’s side have mounted an impressive defence of their title so far this season, having won two and drawn two of their opening seven games of the season.

They come into this tie sitting in second place, just one point behind surprise leaders Arsenal.

The hosts are unbeaten in their last nine games in all competitions (W, D2) and have scored an average of four goals across their last nine PL home games (W8, D1).

In the Premier League, they are unbeaten in 19 games (W14, D5) while they have kept three clean sheets in their last five games.

The Cityzens have enjoyed success in the Manchester Derby in recent times and secured home and away victories over their local rivals last season with a 7-1 aggregate scoreline.

However, those wins came when the Red Devils were still under then manager Ralf Rangnick. With Guardiola’s former assistant at Bayern Munich now the man in charge at Old Trafford, the Spaniard knows that his side face a tougher test against their local rivals this time.

New United manager Erik ten Hag has silenced his critics with an impressive turnaround that has seen his side record four Premier League wins in a row including wins against Liverpool (2-1) and Arsenal (3-1).

But a trip to the Etihad will represent his biggest test yet since his arrival to the British Isles. United come into this round of games sitting in the top five positions in the league table.

While it is too early for talks about an unlikely title charge, Ten Hag will be hoping that he will be able to show how far his team have come with a win at the Etihad.

With the mood around the Theatre of Dreams a lot better now following their most recent run that led to Ten Hag and Marcus Rashford winning both manager and player of the month awards for September, the Red Devils will come into this game with the belief that they can beat their local rivals.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Premier League Fixtures:

Premier League Table