Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal takes his side to the Etihad for his first ever Manchester derby as Wayne Rooney and company look to add more insult to injury to their bitter rivals.
Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal takes his side to the Etihad for his first ever Manchester derby as Wayne Rooney and company look to add more insult to injury to their bitter rivals.
The Manchester rivals will play out a historic 168th Manchester derby and with the current form of both the teams, it’s anybody’s game. These two squads will be looking to earn an all important victory and get their season back on track after a stuttering start to the campaign.
Manchester City comes into this game with a back of some disappointing games. A woeful draw at CSKA Moscow in the UEFA Champions League was followed by a surprise 2-1 defeat at West Ham United last weekend, which saw the Citizens loose more ground on leaders Chelsea.
Nightmare was not over yet for manager Pelligrini as a 2-0 home defeat to Newcastle United in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday, and injury to key playmaker David Silva, added more problems to the Chilean manager before even a ball has been kicked. But the Citizens have been dominant over their rivals over the years with the ‘noisy neighbours’ emerging triumphing from five of the last six encounters.
As for the Manchester United, the return of Wayne Rooney gives an impetus to the Red Devils who was suspended for the last two games. After a morale boosting draw against EPL leaders Chelsea, Manchester United will be buoyed by the performance and will be hoping to put the same effort against their rivals. Striker Robin van Persie, who has underperformed this season, got on the scoresheet to against Chelsea, to give his own confidence a major boost.
Despite the draw last week, the Old Trafford side have made their worst start to a Premier League campaign, accumulating just 13 points from their opening nine games. Injuries to key players and lack of defensive cover have exposed the 20-time EPL champions but will be hoping to put all those nightmares behind when Manchester City come calling.
Despite being only nine games into the Premier League season, Manchester United are yet convince the pundits of their title ambitions. A push-on against their closest rivals could boost the morale within the team and may be the ideal kickstart for the season. With Radamel Falcao injured, the onus falls on the likes of Angel Di Maria and Robin van Persie as well as skipper Wayne Rooney. For Manchester City, with talisman David Silva out, manager Pelligrini has a tough call to make when it comes to selecting the best playing eleven.
Prediction – 1:1
