Manchester City face Manchester United at Old Trafford knowing that a victory will set them on their way to a second progressive league title.
United are in terrible form, coming off the back of a 4-0 defeat to Everton, but this is a derby and anything can happen, even if United do risk handing their long term rivals Liverpool the upper hand in the title race.
Ahead of the game, football experts make prediction over the Manchester derby.
Man Utd 2-1 Man City - Aaron Flanagan
There is no chance that Manchester United will play as badly as they did on Sunday vs Everton . If anything, they should be so determined to right the wrongs, that they will be a different beast altogether. City, for all of their swashbuckling brilliance, have been a little lacklustre on occasions recently. The Spurs triple-header could well have taken it out of them and, with a fiery United performance, could well be very beatable. United to edge it, for me, but not without controversy.
Man Utd 1-2 Man City - Darren Lewis
United may be fired up to repay their fans for their support through a horrific run of form. But the truth is they simply won't get anything out of this unless they are tight defensively. Should they open up, as the fans will demand at Old Trafford, they will almost certainly leave the holes at the back that City will exploit. Pep Guardiola's men are too quick, too creative and too slick to be denied.
Man Utd 0-2 Man City - Neil McLeman
Manchester United cannot be as bad as against Everton. And for all the talk among their fans about preferring to see City win the title, once the whistle goes Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s team will run and harry and chase like in a normal Manchester derby. The problem is even if they match City’s effort, they cannot equal their noisy neighbour’s quality (how many United players would get in the City team? Only De Gea?). It will be frenetic to start at Old Trafford but I expect Pep Guardiola’s side to win and return to the top of the Premier League.
Man Utd 0-3 Man City - James Whaling
I find it difficult to see anything other than a comfortable Manchester City win. I have no dog in the title fight; both City and Liverpool are exceptional sides and I'd be happy to see either lift the trophy as deserved winners. But I think City will put one hand on the silverware this evening against a Manchester United side that looks devoid of the confidence they had during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's caretaker reign. United were so dismal against Everton (who were brilliant, by the way) that they would have probably lost to any team outside of the Premier League's bottom three. They simply cannot be that bad again, but I still don't see them having enough to stop Pep Guardiola's swashbuckling machine.
Man Utd 1-3 Man City - Mark Jones
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer knows all about 'Manchester United DNA.' And we know that he knows about that because he's been banging on about it from the moment he took the managerial reins in December. In the few moments he's not talking about Fergie or that night in 1999, anyway. He'll talk about that DNA being all about never giving up and always playing with pride for the shirt and stuff like that, but there's something else in that DNA too. A hatred of Liverpool. In truth the whole helping the Reds win the title thing shouldn't really matter though because City are just a far better football team, but the fact that it's even an issue at all adds a level of oddness to this fixture which is going to tell eventually. United will give it a good go, and probably even score, but in the end they'll lose a game that they'll want to instantly forget about.
Man Utd 1-3 Man City - David McDonnell
There will be a response from United, following their 4-0 humiliation at Everton on Sunday, there has to be, but that alone will not be enough to bridge the gulf in class between them and City. Old Trafford no longer holds any fear for City, who have won on five of their last seven visits there in the Premier League, and, put simply, they have better players than United in virtually every position. Pep Guardiola's side have to win to stay on course for the title, and I expect them to do so with relative ease.
Man Utd 0-2 Man City - Mike Walters
Those of us who tipped Liverpool to be champions before a ball was kicked would love to be proved wrong, but this is not an ideal time for United to be playing the noisy neighbours. Six defeats in eight games for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side, culminating in that virtual withdrawal of labour at Everton last weekend, will inspire little confidence at Anfield that this will be the game where City will drop points on the run-in. Although it is unlikely to be as overwhelming as the Blue Moon's 6-1 win at Old Trafford eight years ago, which signalled a changing of the guard in Manchester, I would rate United's chances of a win as slim and none. And slim is out of town right now.
Source- The Mirror
