Manchester United welcome Manchester City to Old Trafford in a blockbuster Manchester derby.
Victory or a draw would see Utd leapfrog Newcastle into third with the Magpies not in action until Sunday.
Man City meanwhile can move to within two points of league leaders – Arsenal with a win.
Team News
Diogo Dalot is a doubt for Man Utd after he was substituted before half-time during their Carabao Cup Quarter-Final win over Charlton, due to a knock.
Axel Tuanzebe (unspecified), Donny van de Beek (knee), Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood (both personal) remain absent.
City could be without John Stones in defence after he missed their shock Carabao Cup defeat at Southampton in midweek, due to fitness concerns.
Ruben Dias (hamstring) remains absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Man Utd will host Man City at Old Trafford on Saturday 14 January with kick-off at 12:30pm GMT, live on BT Sport 1 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Man Utd have claimed just four points from their last five league meetings against Man City (W1, D1, L3).
- Man City are unbeaten in four of their last five league visits to Old Trafford (W3, D1, L1).
- Utd have kept just one clean sheet in their last four league meetings against City (W1, L3), winning 2-0 in March 2021.
- Marcus Rashford has scored in each of Utd’s last five matches in all competitions (W5), during which he provided assists in their home wins against Forest and Everton in league and FA Cup respectively.
- Only one of Riyad Mahrez’s two league goals for Man City this season have been scored away from home, in a 1-0 win at Chelsea in their last league outing
Prediction
Since returning from the World Cup break, Utd have just transformed into a more solid team with three goals scored in four of their last six matches – which is possibly the best momentum that they can have coming into this local derby compared to previous years.
Erik Ten Hag though will be relieved by how his Red Devils edged past Charlton in midweek because they were largely frustrated despite dominance, yet Rashford is continuing to be a difficult opponent for the opposition’s defence to handle at present.
After two contrastable cup performances in the past week, Man City hopefully will be back to the same aggressive quality which beat Chelsea in the FA Cup, because they looked wasteful with little intensity at Southampton in midweek.
Pep Guardiola therefore will need his Citizens to quickly regroup because if they turn out a repeat performance here, I can see Utd comfortably ripping their defence apart on current form but the hosts’ defence will have their own issues trying to isolate the threat of Erling Haaland.
A goalless draw therefore feels incredibly unlikely but Utd have been difficult to beat at home since Xmas, so I am going for a high-scoring draw.
Prediction: Man Utd 2-2 Man City
Result: Man Utd 2-1 Man City
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