December 13th 2024.
The highly anticipated Manchester derby is upon us as Manchester City prepare to host rivals Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium this weekend. This clash between two heavyweight teams on the ropes promises to be a thrilling showdown.
Pep Guardiola's side are coming off a mixed week, earning a point against Crystal Palace but suffering a defeat at the hands of Juventus in the Champions League. Their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages have taken a major blow, as they have only managed to win one out of their last ten matches in all competitions, losing seven of those. The 4-1 thrashing by Sporting Lisbon, now managed by Ruben Amorim who is now in the United dugout, was a particularly painful defeat for City.
Unfortunately for Guardiola, their miserable run shows no signs of ending as they face a strong United side on Sunday. However, there is some good news as there are no fresh injuries to report from their midweek trip to Italy. The champions are still without Rodri, but Mateo Kovacic has returned to training and could make his return to the midfield this weekend. However, they will have to make at least one enforced change, with Rico Lewis serving a suspension following his red card at Selhurst Park.
Guardiola will also have to make a big decision in goal, as he has dropped Ederson from the Premier League starting XI in recent games. It seems he is willing to stick with his decision and keep Stefan Ortega in goal.
Meanwhile, the positive atmosphere that surrounded Amorim's appointment at United has been dampened by back-to-back league defeats to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest. The surprise departure of Dan Ashworth has added to the uncertainty at Old Trafford.
In an attempt to get back on track, United made multiple changes in their Europa League match against Viktoria Plzen on Thursday. Substitute Rasmus Hojlund was the hero, scoring two goals to secure a victory for United. Amad Diallo, who has been impressive in attack, also played a key role in the game. Mason Mount, who came off the bench to replace the lackluster Joshua Zirkzee, is hoping to earn a start in this crucial derby match.
With Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof back from injury, United's squad is looking healthier than it has in a while, with Luke Shaw being the only absentee. It will be interesting to see how they line up against City.
Here is our predicted lineup for Manchester City: Ortega, Walker, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol, Bernardo, Gundogan, Savio, de Bruyne, Doku, Haaland. And for Manchester United: Onana, Yoro, de Ligt, Martinez, Mazraoui, Mainoo, Ugarte, Dalot, Diallo, Fernandes, Hojlund.
For those eager to watch this highly anticipated match, it will kick off at 4:30pm on Sunday 15 December and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event. Subscribers can also watch the game live on Sky Go and NOWTV.
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