Manchester United v Manchester City
Barclays Premier League
Tuesday 25th March
7:45 KO (BST)
Old Trafford, Manchester
United (7th)
“We’ll go into our next game confident and ready to get a result” -David Moyes, perhaps more positive than he’s been all season.
Starting XI from: David de Gea, Anders Lindegaard; Rafael da Silva, Phil Jones, Rio Ferdinand, Alex Buttner, Patrice Evra; Antonio Valencia, Adnan Januzaj, Ashley Young, Juan Mata, Ryan Giggs, Darren Fletcher, Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverley, Shinji Kagawa; Danny Welbeck, Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez. As said on the Manchester United Blog United Ramble, Nemanja Vidic is suspended as his double yellow card against Liverpool counts for two matches which would be West Ham and Manchester City.
Doubts: Nani (hamstring)
Unavailable: Chris Smalling (hamstring), Jonny Evans (calf), Nemanja Vidic (suspension), Robin Van Persie (knee)
Top scorers: Robin Van Persie (11), Wayne Rooney (13)
Most assists: Wayne Rooney (10)
PL form: D D W W L W
Home record v Manchester City: W29 D22 L17
Manchester City (3rd)
“We have to beat United and just keep going – we showed against Fulham that we are focused and ready for the challenge ahead and know our focus is on the derby. Football is very strange and United, like any club, can play really well in one game and not so good the next so we can’t worry too much about their current position or form,” Yaya Toure, speaking to mcfc.co.uk
“We always expect to go to Manchester United and win – but not because they have had a difficult season. It will be a very difficult game. United have had a difficult season but they are a very good team, one that has stayed in the Champions League,” said Manuel Pellegrini, longingly.
Starting XI from: Joe Hart, Costel Pantillimon; Gael Clichy, Martin Demichelis, Aleksandar Kolarov, Vincent Kompany, Joleon Lescott, Micah Richards, Pablo Zabaleta; Javi Garcia, Fernandinho, James Milner, Samir Nasri, Jesus Navas, David Silva, Yaya Toure; Edin Dzeko, Stevan Jovetic, Alvaro Negredo.
Doubts: n/a
Unavailable: Sergio Aguero (hamstring), Matija Nastastic
Top scorer: Sergio Aguero (26), Alvaro Negredo (23)
Most assists: David Silva (8)
PL form: W L D W W W
Previous league meetings
City 4-1 United (22-09-13)
United 1-2 City (08-04-13)
City 2-3 United (09-12-12)
City 1-0 United (30-04-12)
United 1-6 City (23-10-11)
United 2-1 City (12-02-11)
Officials
Referee: Michael Oliver
Assistants: S Burt, D England
Fourth Official: P Dowd
Notes
City haven’t lost at Old Trafford since 2011 after Wayne Rooney’s spectacular overhead kick settled a tight match in United’s favour, 2-1.
Rooney’s brace at Upton Park moved him into third in the club’s all-time scoring records with 212, behind Sir Bobby Charlton and Denis Law.
City currently have 76 league goals to their name, with Liverpool the only side to have scored more in this campaign with 82. In comparison, United have managed 48 and conceded 7 more than their dear rivals (27).
United 12/5 Draw 12/5 City 23/20
Red Mancunian predictions
Craig (@CraigNorwood): United 1-1 City
Iwan (@IwanLehnert): United 1-3 City
Jack (@jackkholt): United 1-2 City
Jay (@RFFH): United 3-1 City
Mark (@mdhzk3): United 1-4 City
Nick (@ManUnitedYouth): United 2-4 City
Sam (@CenterSneak): United 1-5 City
Thomo (@andy_thomo): United 1-4 City
2 replies on “MATCH PREVIEW: Manchester United v Manchester City”
DDG
Rafael Jones Ferdinand/Vidic Buttner
Nani-Feillani-Januzaj
Mata-Kagawa
Rooney
how come the article lists only league goals for Van Persie (11) & Rooney (13) but lists goals from all competitions for Aguero (26) & Negredo (23)