Man City vs Man United Match Preview

The Manchester derby is the highlight of Sunday’s Premier League fixture list as City host United with both sides looking to turn around their poor run of results.

The match at the Etihad Stadium is scheduled to kick off at 16:30 GMT on Sunday 15th December and will be shown live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event.

An exciting contest could be on the cards, with both teams desperate for three points but looking suspect in defence.

Setting the Scene

Sunday’s Premier League derby between City and United is the first for many years that has taken place with Pep Guardiola’s team struggling more than their opponents.

The teams meet at the Etihad Stadium with the Citizens having lost an unthinkable seven of their previous 10 games after Wednesday’s Champions League to Juventus.

The Premier League champions are astonishingly 19th in the six-match form table after sustaining successive league losses to Bournemouth, Brighton, Tottenham and Liverpool. A 3-0 home win over Nottingham Forest looked to have got them back on track, but that is their only win in their last 10 outings.

City then needed to equalise twice to earn a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace last weekend before their 2-0 midweek loss in Turin. The Citizens are in danger of slipping out of the top four with Forest and Aston Villa just two points behind them. That still sees them nine places above neighbours United, though, as the Red Devils have lost their last two league games against Arsenal and Forest.

New manager Ruben Amorim saw his side win 2-1 at Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday, but their attempt to climb the table continues to be held back by defensive issues, not least the poor performances of goalkeeper Andre Onana. City have had the edge in the recent meetings between the teams, winning six of their seven meetings before United’s 2-1 win in the FA Cup final in May. The teams also met in the Community Shield at the start of this season when City won in a shootout following a 1-1 draw.

Tip 1: Over 3.5 goals @ 11/10 with bet365

City have won five of their seven home league games this season, but they are hard to trust at short odds for a derby success in their current situation. Their defensive selection issues have reached crisis point after Rico Lewis’ red card at Selhurst Park, which means Guardiola may have to start one of his youngsters in defence, most likely Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, or possibly left-back Josh Wilson-Esbrand.

City have conceded two or more goals in nine of their last 10 games, so it is clear to see where their problems lie and exposing youngsters to the blood and thunder of a derby tie is far from ideal.

United’s long-term future looks more promising since the appointment of Amorim, but it may take the Portuguese manager time to improve his defence and they are still making regular calamitous mistakes which could prove costly against attackers of the quality that City have. The Citizens have found the net in four of their seven recent defeats and scored five goals in their two draws, so the best bet on the game looks to be to expect both attacks to have success and back at least four goals in the match.

Both teams have scored in seven of the last eight Manchester derbies and seven of those have had over 2.5 goals, with three – including the 6-3 City win in 2022 – producing four or more.

Tip 2: Rasmus Hojlund anytime goalscorer @ 13/5 with bet365

Rasmus Hojlund scored twice for United against Viktoria Plzen despite playing only 34 minutes as a substitute and he could extend his hot run of form against City’s reshuffled defence at the Etihad. Hojland began that game on the bench, presumably with the intention of keeping him fresh for this game and the move could pay off.

The Dane has scored five goals in his last four appearances after netting United’s equaliser against Forest last Saturday and grabbing a double against Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League and he looks his side’s best source of goals at the moment.