Manchester City will look to put their FA Cup disappointment behind them when they host crosstown rivals United this coming Thursday. The Citizens are locked in a titanic battle with Arsenal, Liverpool and United for the final Champions League places. Not winning silverware in his first year in charge of City is a bitter blow for manager Pep Guardiola but not qualifying for Europe’s biggest cup competition is a major catastrophe for the 46-year-old tactician.
A victory against United this coming Thursday would ease those concerns for the City faithful. The Citizens will fancy their chances of doing just that as they have fared extremely well against the Red Devils in the league of late. City have won five of their last eight league meetings against United, with one of their only two losses during that span coming in last season’s corresponding fixture when Marcus Rashford scored the only goal.
Guardiola also has beaten rival Jose Mourinho in four of their last five league meetings. That includes City’s 2-1 victory against United at Old Trafford earlier this season. Another thing going for City is their terrific home form. They have only lost one of their 18 Premier League home games since the derby defeat at the Etihad Stadium in March last year.
For Guardiola and City to extend their dominance against Mourinho and United, they will need Sergio Aguero to take charge in this contest. The Argentinian is starting to deliver once again, scoring in each of his last five Premier League appearances. He has scored eight goals in 10 matches for City against United but hasn’t scored in the last two encounters.
Manchester United showed that there is life after Zlatan Ibrahimovic, beating Burnley, 2-0, on Sunday. Anthony Martial and Wayne Rooney scored the winning goals for the Red Devils who stretched their unbeaten run in the Premier League to 23 matches. That’s the longest unbeaten run by a Premier League team within a single season since 2010-11, when the Red Devils went 24 games without losing. They are now just one point behind City in the league table heading into their crunch clash this coming Thursday.
Martial and Rooney’s heroics were a welcome sight for manager Jose Mourinho who’s determined to find ways to replace the goal-scoring production of Zlatan. Martial’s performance against Burnley was a thing of beauty as he both scored and assisted in a Premier League away game for the first time in his career. Rooney, on the other hand, scored his first goal for the club since January to extend his United scoring record to 251. Zlatan’s injury may also be a blessing in disguise for teen phenom Marcus Rashford who may finally get an extended run in the center-forward position. He has had a hand in four goals in his past five appearances for United in all competitions.
Given that this game will be played at the Etihad, though, expect Mourinho to pick an ultra-defensive lineup to thwart City’s attacking stars. The Red Devils’ defense was rock-solid on Sunday as Burnley failed to land a shot on target in a Premier League home game for only the second time in their history. That’s quite an accomplishment considering Burnley has a better home record than United this season.
The Red Devils are 6-4-0 in their last 10 matches.
Writer’s Prediction
City and United cancel each other out in an entertaining 1-1 draw (+230).
Create a betting account now and cash in on all the best English Premier League action with America’s top online sportsbook.
