In a weekend of derbies, the first Manchester Derby of the current football season will be on the plate this weekend after the completion of the international break.
Both Manchester clubs had contrasting starts to the commencement of the premier league. Both clubs seemed to have found their rhythm and Manchester United’s manager, Erik Ten Hag can show results with his sweeping of the Manager of the Month for September and his strike Marcus Rashford taking the Player of the Month ahead of players like Kevin De Bruyne, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Alex Iwobi and Jacob Ramsey.
After losing the first two matches of the season where they conceded six goals, Ten Hag took the bold decision to bench captain Harry Maguire and the partnership of Lisandro Martínez and Raphaël Varane was summoned to stabilize the back-line. Ever since, Manchester United’s game have had a steady progression and they defeated high-flying table-toppers Arsenal at the Old Trafford.
Manchester City on the other hand have had no problem with scoring goals especially with the acquisition of Norwegian, Erling Haaland. He has so far scored 11 goals after seven games in the premier league. The star-studded City team seemed to have all boxes ticked going into this fixture as they are currently unbeaten in the current campaign.
For Manchester United to have a good chance on winning, Erling Haaland must be isolated. The last time Lisandro Martínez faced Erling Haaland was when both players played for Ajax and Borussia Dortmund respectively and Ajax went on to win 4 nil. Besides Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Besides Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, İlkay Gündoğan, Bernardo Silva have been “headaches” for opposition teams in the premier league. Manchester United must also exploit the occasional frailties of the City back-line just like Newcastle did when they hosted the Cityzens in a 3-all draw early in the season.
Bookmakers are favouring a slim victory for City or a draw at the end of 90 minutes. Manchester City defender, John Stones is out injured, same with United’s Harry Maguire. Ten Hag had updates about Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial saying both players have started training ahead of the crunch tie.
Definitely, this match will be evenly contested and the winner will surely hold on the bragging rights of Manchester.
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