Can Manchester United rally around new interim boss Michael Carrick and collect a massive Manchester derby win over Man City at Old Trafford on Saturday.
The early morning fixtures sees Manchester United bidding to strengthen its top-four case and pick up a first win since the firing of Ruben Amorim earlier this month. The Red Devils drew Burnley away in the Premier League and fell to Brighton in an FA Cup match on Sunday.
WATCH — Manchester United vs Manchester City
Of course, the Manchester derby is nothing new to Carrick. He pulled on a Man Utd shirt for 31 derbies, winning 17 and drawing three while scoring thrice and adding two assists. Club familiarity is nice but did little for United in the reverse fixture on Sept. 14, with City winning 3-0 at the Etihad on two goals from Erling Haaland and a pair of assists from Jeremy Doku.
United remain within three points of the top four but Man City have a larger gap to first place on the Premier League table. Three-straight league draws have seen City lose ground on Arsenal, thought Pep Guardiola’s men smashed Exeter City 10-1 in the FA Cup on Saturday and handled Newcastle 2-0 in the League Cup semifinal first leg on Tuesday.
Antoine Semenyo is off to a flyer for City, scoring in both games since arriving from Bournemouth and giving his new side another way to overcome a series of defensive injuries that have them without big names Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias.
For live updates and highlights throughout Manchester United vs Manchester City, check out PST’s live blog coverage below.
How to watch Manchester United vs Manchester City live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 7:30am ET Saturday
Venue: Old Trafford — Manchester
TV Channel: USA
Streaming: Watch on USA Network
Manchester United team news, focus
OUT: Matthijs de Ligt (unspecified - MORE), Noussair Mazraoui (return from AFCON) | QUESTIONABLE:Bryan Mbeumo (return from AFCON), Amad Diallo (return from AFCON)
Manchester City team news, focus
OUT: Josko Gvardiol (ankle), Ruben Dias (thigh), John Stones (unspecified), Omar Marmoush (international duty - AFCON), Mateo Kovacic (ankle), Oscar Bobb (thigh) | QUESTIONABLE: Savinho (unspecified)
Manchester United vs Manchester City prediction
The new manager bounce is always possible and there won’t be in a soul in the building who won’t be up for such a big affair, but United continue to ship goes without the injured Matthijs de Ligt. Their GF:GA since December 4 is 15:12 with just a single clean sheet. They may find a way past Gigio Donnarumma, but they’ll need Senne Lammens to be Man of the Match caliber to collect all of the points. And even then... Manchester United 1-2 Manchester City