Has the gap between the two Manchester clubs truly closed? Well, it depends on what you’re looking at. In the table, 15 points (plus a game in hand) stand between City and United ahead of Sunday’s second Manchester Derby at Old Trafford.
United beat City at the Etihad Stadium in their first meeting this season, but City decisively won the EFL Cup semifinal tie between the two sides. Also, if you want to know where both Manchester clubs are headed for their FA Cup quarterfinal ties, go here. Obviously, the Draconian ruling that UEFA handed down on City, if it stands, will be a game-changer to say the least. And who know what we’ll see on Sunday, while the prognosticators and sports books believe City will cruise in this one, United stridently defied the odds last time.
It’s possible that United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could be without his top two defenders for this one.
Manchester United Starting XI Prediction vs Manchester City: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Bailly, Maguire, Shaw; Fred, Matic; Martial, Fernandes, James; Ighalo
Manchester Derby FYIs
Starting XI Predictions: City
Team news for both sides: go to this link
Kickoff: 4:30 BST, March 8, Old Trafford
Google Result Probability: Manchester City win 58%, Draw 23%, Manchester United win 19%
Form Guide: Manchester City WWLWD Manchester United- DWWDL
Series history: Manchester United wins 74 Draws 52 Manchester City wins 54
Prediction: Manchester United 2, Manchester City 2
A lot of people are not giving United a chance in this one, but remember that was the narrative heading into the last meeting in December, and you all remember how that turned out.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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