There's a crisis in Manchester... But for who, Chris Kamara?
One win in 10 games sounds like kind of form Manchester United fans have endured over the last decade, but it's actually not-so-noisy Manchester City who are on the worst run of Pep Guardiola's entire career. The four-in-a-row champions suffered a 2-0 defeat away to Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday, furthering their unfamiliar crisis.
United, meanwhile, avoided another slip-up in the Europa League, coming from behind to snatch a 2-1 win over Czech side Viktoria Plzen. The harsh reality for new boss Ruben Amorim is that his team are languishing 13th in the Premier League table and won't even finish the weekend in the top half if they manage to compound City's misery in this clash of two sides desperate for three points. Here's how the Mirror Football team see the Manchester derby going.
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John Cross
We never thought we would be previewing a Manchester derby with one club in crisis and the other in mid-table. Normally, that covers Manchester United - in crisis and in mid-table - but, for once, it is City in crisis under Pep Guardiola.
Maybe I'm being naive here but I keep waiting for City to burst back into life, play brilliantly and prove it was all one big, bad dream. But City do have an ageing squad - who honestly thought doing a podcast 'You'll Never Beat Kyle Walker ' was a good idea? - and they need a rebuild.
United, in contrast, are still getting it together under Ruben Amorim. The United boss' assertion that we're all wrong about the players and they are better than we think… well, that didn't last.
Therefore, I do think City - with an extra day's recovery - will win the Manchester derby and Guardiola will finally have reason to smile. I actually thought, though watching the highlights, City played quite well against Juventus - but just did not create enough chances. I think they will have too much for United. Just.
Prediction: Man City 2-1 Man Utd
Andy Dunn
Remember the old cliché about form going out of the window when it comes to a local derby? Well, Pep Guardiola had better hope that is true because, right now, his Manchester City side look incapable of beating anyone.
Their one win in the last ten matches came against a Nottingham Forest team that had ten attempts at goal at the Etihad and, make no mistake, Manchester United will get plenty of chances against a defence that looks like conceding every time it faces a counter-attack.
And it is still the counter-attack that poses the threat to City, because they still have the majority of possession in any given game. The problem for Pep is that they don't look like converting possession into a decent number of goals and, combined with a defence and first-choice keeper not currently fit for purpose, it is a painful, losing combination.
With Rasmus Hojlund becoming more potent, United will score more than once and edge a contest that might well be low on quality but should produce some excitement.
Prediction: Man City 2-3 Man Utd
Rasmus Hojlund scored a brace for Manchester United against Viktoria Plzen (
Image:
Getty Images)
Will Man City get back to winning ways against United? Give us your score prediction in the comments section.
David McDonnell
Ordinarily, Manchester City would be overwhelming favourites for Sunday's derby, but their wretched form of late means United go into the game with a realistic chance of a first win at the Etihad since March 2021.
United are hardly in scintillating form themselves, coming from behind to beat modest opposition Victoria Plzen 2-1 in the Europa League, after back-to-back Premier League defeats.
The fact City are at home gives them a slight advantage, as does the increased unreliability of Andre Onana in the United goal. United remain a work in progress under new boss Ruben Amorim, one prone to hiccups as they adjust to his new methods, so with all of that taken into consideration, City should have the upper hand and win, although I’m expecting a tight affair.
Prediction: Man City 2-1 Man Utd
Neil Moxley
The heart tells me that Manchester City will arrest their slump in form. The head tells me something different. Why? Manchester United have turned in a few decent performances at the Etihad.
Okay, when the sky blue half were flying, there were one or two embarrassments. But, going back in time, the visitors haven't been such lambs to the slaughter. It’s not been too bad a hunting ground.
When push comes to it, I just think that Pep Guardiola's side has more firepower and they may be less likely to make mistakes at the back. That being said, I'd be surprised if either ran away with it. I'm expecting a tight one - but I think the hosts, on their own patch, will edge it.
Prediction: Man City 2-1 Man Utd
Manchester City are in an unfamiliar crisis after losing to Juventus on Wednesday
Mike Walters
Crisis? What crisis? City look as if they have aged overnight, and they were mugged by an Old Lady in Turin, but the perception that they are falling apart or on their uppers is offensive.
None of the clubs they have horse-whipped by cricket scores in the last eight years will have a shred of sympathy for them. None of their title rivals will spill a single tear if those 115 charges stick and it leads to compulsory relegation. None of the clubs who have sailed close to the wind, or gone bust, in the fall-out from Covid will care two hoots about City losing a few football matches.
Welcome to the real world, where most football fans live, after a decade of gilded supremacy. Having said that, City could not have wished for more supine visitors in the derby this weekend.
If Pep Guardiola went to church, and prayed to higher powers for charity, Him Upstairs would send United's defence for Erling Haaland and friends to bully and browbeat into submission. Surprisingly, United have won 11 times at the Etihad in the last 20 years, but don't expect City to stroll complacently through this one.
Prediction: Man City 3-1 Man Utd
Alex Richards
If Marcus Rashford was the Marcus Rashford we know he can be, then I'd quite fancy Manchester United to get something. He has a good goalscoring record there down the years, and United have shown in the recent past that they have the counter-attacking pace that can give City real problems. But that is largely predicated on him being at his very best. And frankly, right now he's not.
So while City are in an absolutely dismal run of form and Pep Guardiola looks to be struggling to find ideas to shake them out of it, I'm still backing them to get a much-needed win on Sunday. Their experienced heads have been some way below their best and perhaps a number of them are reaching the end of the road at the Etihad.
But they've still got it in them to turn it on and produce against a United side who continue to give up chances and aren't yet fully in tune (I mean how can they be, it's only been a month) with what Ruben Amorim wants.
Erling Haaland will get opportunities and I'd expect him to take them. And there's a number of their big players who will have been hurt with the recent criticism, and may well take Sunday as their opportunity to remind people 'we're still here'.
Prediction: Man City 3-1 Man Utd
Ruben Amorim has already beaten Pep Guardiola this season with former club Sporting Lisbon ( Image: Getty Images)
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Jacob Leeks
Yes, I know it's a boring answer, but there's nothing to suggest either of these confidence-depleted teams can engineer a win on Sunday. City have been dreadful in their recent games and are more vulnerable than ever.
That could allow United to nick a goal if the hosts decide to push forward. But as ever with United they also have the capacity to shoot themselves in the foot and I can't see them getting through the derby without making at least one major error. Given both side's recent struggles and the fact that bragging rights are on the line, I think a bore draw is the biggest possibility.
Prediction: Man City 1-1 Man Utd
Tom Victor
It's the stoppable force against the movable object as Manchester United head to the Etihad on Sunday. You have to go back a long way for the last time both Manchester clubs were in such dire straits. City might be eight points clear of their rivals, but both have been found wanting in recent weeks - even if they’re coming off differing results from their midweek European ties.
For a variety of reasons, neither City nor United look capable of stopping the other from troubling their net. At least that would be the case if both weren’t also regularly misfiring at the other end.
Pep Guardiola's team have had an extra day to prepare, with United’s exertions in Plzen at risk of leaving them a little flat, but it's hard to make a case for either team winning and they may well end up cancelling each other out.
Prediction: Man City 1-1 Man Utd
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