Manchester City vs Manchester United, Premier League preview: Manchester City will be aiming to arrest their rapid slide this season when they host Manchester United in a highly anticipated Premier League showdown at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. Both teams enter the ‘Manchester Derby’ facing a myriad of issues. Pep Guardiola’s City have registered just one win in their last 10 outings across competitions and currently are fifth on the points table, trailing leaders Liverpool by nine points. United, on the other hand, are languishing at the 13th spot at the moment and had fired manager Erik ten Hag recently.
Ruben Amorim had joined the ‘Red Devils’ as their new manager after a trophy-filled stint with Sporting CP in the Portuguese top division Primeira Liga. Amorim, however, has just one win in four league outings since taking over as United coach, suffering back-to-back defeats against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest last week.
While City had beaten Arsenal to the top spot last season and won the Premier League for the fourth consecutive and for the sixth time in the last seven seasons, Ten Hag’s United had finished at the eighth spot – their lowest ever in the Premier League.
Ten Hag, however, would avoid getting the sack at the end of the 2023-24 season with his team defeating City 2-1 in the FA Cup final in May. United would then register their worst start in more than three decades at the beginning of the ongoing season, as a result of which the Dutchman was fired in October.
Starting XIs:
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker (C), Dias, Gvardiol, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Nunes, Foden, Doku, Haaland
Manchester United: Onana, de Ligt, Maguire, Martinez, Mazraoui, Ugarte, Fernandes, Dalot, Diallo, Hojlund, Mount.