Man Utd vs Man City: Match preview with team news, betting odds and prediction

Manchester United desperately need all three points when they take on Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

The Red Devils head into the game sitting seventh in the Premier League table and six points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea following their comfortable win over Everton so United need a win over City to close the gap.

Victory this afternoon would see Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men climb back up to fifth and to within just three points of Chelsea so the race for Champions League qualification would be well and truly on.

United have been enjoying a good run of form recently as they eased into the last-16 of the Europa League with a 6-1 aggregate win over Club Brugge and beat Derby 3-0 in the FA Cup last time out so they’ll be looking to maintain their form today.

However, that’s not going to be easy against a top class Man City side who head to Old Trafford off the back of five consecutive wins in all competitions and Pep Guardiola’s men need a win to consolidate their place behind leaders Liverpool in the table.

Team news

Manchester United expect Harry Maguire to pass a late fitness test after he missed the win at Derby with an ankle injury while Aaron Wan-Bissaka should also return from a minor back issue.

Daniel James is a doubt with a knock which kept him out of the trip to Pride Park last Thursday but the winger is likely to be named in the squad. However, Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford remain on the sidelines.

Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne is a major doubt with a shoulder injury that he picked up during the League Cup win over Aston Villa last weekend so Phil Foden could start in midfield.

Leroy Sane has returned to full training following a serious knee injury but this game will come too soon so he remains on the sidelines along with Aymeric Laporte.

Betting odds

Manchester United are 15/4 to win which seem like huge odds considering they’re the home team and they won the reverse fixture back in December. Manchester City are the 3/4 favourites despite being the away team while you can back the draw at odds of 3/1.

United desperately need a win to keep pace with fourth-placed Chelsea but I think City will get something this afternoon. A 1-1 draw at odds of 6/1 looks tempting and if we add Anthony Martial as first goal-scorer, we get excellent odds of 43/1. That would be my bet of the day.

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Prediction

Man Utd won the reverse fixture at the Etihad earlier in the season but City won the last meeting at Old Trafford after coming out 3-1 victors in the second leg of the League Cup in January. We don’t tend to see too many draws in the Manchester Derby but I have a feeling we’ll see one today.

United are in decent form and need a positive result to stay in touch with Chelsea but City are a very talented outfit who won’t be easy to beat. Therefore, I’m backing this to be a feisty 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.  Man Utd 1-1 Man City