Manchester United aims to close down their gap with city rivals Manchester City to a point in the first Manchester derby of the new year.
The Red Devils thrashed Bournemouth 3-0 in their last Premier League game while City overcame Chelsea by a slender 1-0 margin.
MUN vs MCI Match Details
Date: Saturday, 14 December 2022
Time: 13:30 (BST) / 18:00 (IST)
Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester
MUN vs MCI Match Preview
Erik ten Hag’s men could not have asked for a better time to face their adversaries Manchester City in a hotbed of form after the World Cup break. While City scuffled against Southampton in their eventual defeat in the league cup midweek, Manchester United cruised past Charlton Athletic 3-0 at Old Trafford where they have won their last nine in all competitions. The Dutch have now won 20 of his first 27 competitive matches in charge, the fewest games taken to reach this landmark by any manager in the club's history. Antony slotted his second in as many matches while Marcus Rashford rounded off the scoring with a late brace coming on as a substitute on the hour mark. The 25-year-old has now bagged 14 goals in all competitions, half of them coming in the last six games for Manchester United. He has also scored in eight consecutive games at home making him the player to watch out for again. Rashford’s incredible prominence and Casemiro’s influence in the midfield are among the key factors Ten Hag will be looking at to overcome City’s challenge. The Brazilian will be pivotal after watching the team crumble without him in the reverse derby at the Etihad which ended 6-2 in City’s favor in October last year. A win on Saturday will show again the belief the manager has instilled in his workforce and United will jump to the third position on the table. Within a point reach of their rivals in second. If the victory is secured, the Red Devils will also close down the gap with leaders Arsenal opening up any chances of title credentials.
The league cup elimination from the quarterfinal in the hands of Southampton came as a surprise if not a shock for Manchester City in the midweek. It was the first time their manager Pep Guardiola suffered a domestic cup exit at this stage. City were struggling in the games just before the World Cup and also drew against Everton at home on return but the defeat to Saints was a hard pinch. This was the first time since a 3-0 loss to Liverpool in the Champions League in April 2018 that the team failed to manage a shot on target. Guardiola’s men were miserable for the most part of the game with the opposition taking full advantage of their mistakes in killing the game off in the first 30 minutes. The Spaniard admitted the better team won the game but did not issued any red flags for City yet which midfielder Ilkay Gundogan seemed to indicate by claiming the side lacked belief and had the wrong attitude. But City could be a dangerous prospect even at their down-level and will easily flick the switch if victory is achieved in the derby. In his 500th top-flight game as a manager, Guardiola would want just that with City having won in nine of their last 14 visits to Old Trafford since the iconic 6-1 triumph in 2011. It was six they scored in the other fixture too with Erling Haaland bagging a hat trick although the holders failed to score in four of their last seven away games across all competitions.
Recent Form (all competitions)
MUN: WWWWW
MCI: LWWDW
Recent Form (league)
MUN: WWWWL
MCI: WDWWL
MUN vs MCI Team News
Erik ten Hag said that Wout Weghorst’s signature is close but he will not be available for the Manchester derby even if it is secured early. Right-back Diogo Dalot is ruled out of the clash with a hamstring injury while Anthony Martial will be accessed in the final training session for a slight injury concern. David De Gea will return in sticks after Tom Heaton guarded the post in the midweek league cup win over Charlton. World Cup winner Lisandro Martinez also played a full game since the tournament on Wednesday and will be resuming his duty in the backline alongside finalists Raphael Varane.
Manchester City are without John Stones for the game with an injury and he joins Ruben Dias as the other center-back on the sidelines. The backline for City on Saturday should be Kyle Walker marshalling at right-back, Manuel Akanji and Aymeric Laporte partnering at the center-back and Nathan Ake replacing Sergio Gomez at left-back. The latter had a shocking display in the cup defeat to Southampton.
MUN vs MCI Predicted Lineups
MUN: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw; Casemiro, Christian Eriksen; Antony, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford; Anthony Martial
MCI: Ederson; Kyle Walker, Manuel Akanji, Aymeric Laporte, Nathan Ake; De Bruyne, Rodri, Bernardo Silva; Riyad Mahrez, Erling Haaland, Jack Grealish
MUN vs MCI Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: De Gea (7.5)
DEF: Akanji (7), L Martinez (7), Shaw (8.5)
MID: Antony (8.5), B Fernandes (8.5), De Bruyne (9), Eriksen (8)
FW: Mahrez (7.5), Haaland (9), Rashford (9)
Vice-captain: Marcus Rashford
Captain: Erling Haaland
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