For the first time in 16 months, Manchester United sit above Manchester City in the Premier League table after the Citizens suffered a stunning defeat to Crystal Palace on Monday. The Red Devils will have the chance to stretch that advantage even further this Sunday when they meet City at Old Trafford.
Read on below as we preview this edition of the Manchester Derby and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the Premier League showdown between QPR and Chelsea here as well as our predictions for the remainder of the EPL season.
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2015 Manchester Derby – Manchester City vs. Manchester United Betting Preview
Where: Old Trafford, Manchester
When: Sunday, April 12, 11:00 AM ET
Line: Manchester City +172 at Manchester United +141, tie +205; total: 2.5 – view all EPL lines
What’s At Stake
A victory by Manchester United on Sunday can see them move into second place in the league standings. Manchester City, on the other hand, needs a victory at Old Trafford to leapfrog United back into third place.
Betting on Manchester City
[sc:Soccer240banner ]Manchester City’s hopes of retaining the title took a huge knock on Monday as they suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace. It was the fourth consecutive away loss for the Citizens who slid down to fourth place in the league standings with 61 points to their name.
City are now nine points behind leaders Chelsea in the title race. To add insult to injury, the defending champions are now also below Arsenal and Manchester United in the league table. One of the main reasons behind their recent slump has been their atrocious defense.
They have conceded a total of six goals during this four-game road losing streak. To make matters worse for manager Manuel Pellegrini, City’s attack has been firing blanks on their recent travels as well. During that stretch, the Citizens have scored just two goals.
It won’t get any easier for them in their next match against bitter rivals Manchester United. The Red Devils are one of the best defensive teams in the Premier League today. They are second in the league in scoring defense, allowing just 28 goals this season.
For the Citizens to snap their losing skid, they’ll need Sergio Aguero to be more aggressive on the offensive end. Aguero, the team’s leading scorer with 23 goals, has not found the back of the net in 556 minutes. That has definitely affected the Citizens who are outside the top three for the first time since September 15 last year.
With that said, the Citizens can take heart in the fact that they have dominated their crosstown rivals in their recent battles. Manchester City are 4-0 in their last four league meetings with United with the Citizens outscoring the Red Devils, 10-2, during this time.
Manchester City are 1-3-1 in their last five road games.
There’s just no stopping Manchester United right now.
The Red Devils stormed to their fifth successive league win on Saturday with a comprehensive 3-1 victory over Aston Villa. Ander Herrera and Wayne Rooney scored the goals for United who now have 62 points.
More importantly for United fans, the Red Devils are now eight points clear of Liverpool in the race for the coveted Champions League places. The pressure was on manager Louis van Gaal to bring United back into the European stage this season and it looks like he has accomplished that thanks in large part to the Red Devils’ excellent form at home.
After Old Trafford became a theater of nightmares during David Moyes’ reign last season, the fear factor has returned to United’s opponents when traveling there this campaign. Their victory against Aston Villa was their 13th win in 16 Premier League matches at Old Trafford this season.
Key to United’s sudden resurgence has been Rooney’s excellent form. Ever since Rooney returned to his favored position up front, the England captain has banged in the goals, netting four in United’s last five league outings.
United has also benefited from Michael Carrick anchoring the midfield once again. Carrick was instrumental in United enjoying 76% of the possession against Aston Villa on Saturday. That was also the case in their famous win at Anfield last week where they also commanded the lion’s share of the possession (58%).
Van Gaal pointed out last week that Carrick and Rooney are his coaches on the pitch and he will rely on the English duo to lead the side once again in their upcoming clash with Manchester City. The Red Devils are in for a tough fight, though, as Manchester City are third in the league in scoring defense away from home, conceding just 18 goals in their travels this season thus far.
For United to extend their league win streak to six matches, they’ll need to take control of the midfield once again. Van Gaal will fancy his side’s chances of doing just that, thanks to the trio of Carrick, Herrera and Marouane Fellaini. The latter has brought a certain brand of physicality to the United midfield that has been sorely missing since the time of Roy Keane.
The Red Devils need Fellaini to be at his best this coming Sunday as he goes toe-to-toe with City’s midfield enforcer Yaya Toure, who has already scored 10 goals for Manchester City this season.
Manchester United are 5-0 in their last five home games.
