Over two decades after Manchester City secured their first-ever victory in the Manchester derby in November 2002, the Cityzens now aim for their 57th win against the Red Devils in the 171st derby this Sunday.
Pep Guardiola’s recent years of success made City favourites to retain the title before the season began. However, an unprecedented seven-match winless streak in all competitions has seen the defending champions lose ground on Liverpool at the top and face a battle to remain in the top four.
The 2024-25 Premier League campaign has been far from ideal for City. They trail league leaders Liverpool by eight points in their quest for a fifth consecutive title. After a four-game losing run in the league, which followed an unbeaten start to their first nine matches, City have managed to collect four points from their last two outings.
City seemed to have steadied their form with a commanding 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest last week.
However, they dropped further points last Saturday, drawing 2-2 with Crystal Palace, which dealt another blow to their title defence. Defensively, the Cityzens have struggled, conceding 21 goals in nine matches across all competitions since November—more than any other club from Europe’s top five leagues during this period.
Currently eight points adrift of leaders Liverpool, who still have a game in hand, City also face the risk of falling out of the top four with another defeat.
Despite this, there is hope for City fans, as their Premier League head-to-head record against United shows six consecutive wins.
Meanwhile, their city rivals, United, are in deeper situation, with the brief resurgence under new manager Ruben Amorim fading quickly. Despite entering the season with lower expectations than their blue counterparts, United’s current 13th-place position led to Erik ten Hag’s dismissal. Amorim initially enjoyed an unbeaten three-match streak but has struggled to maintain that momentum.
His early tenure as United manager started promisingly with an unbeaten run, including a draw against Ipswich Town and an emphatic victory over Everton.
However, his honeymoon period in the Premier League has since ended with back-to-back defeats—2-0 at Arsenal, followed by a disappointing 3-2 loss to Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford. These results have left United in 13th place with just 19 points, their lowest tally after 15 games since the 1986-87 season.
United have also struggled away in this fixture, losing their last three Premier League matches against City, conceding 13 goals in the process. Nevertheless, Amorim might hold the key to turning things around, having previously led Sporting to a 4-1 victory over the Cityzens in the Champions League this season.
Man City vs. Man Utd match details
- Date: Sunday, December 15, 2024
- Location: Manchester, England
- Venue: Etihad Stadium
- Kick-off time: 04:30 PM GMT
- Referee: Anthony Taylor
- Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn
- Fourth official: Tim Robinson
- VAR: Stuart Attwell
- Assistant VAR: Simon Bennett
- Tickets: Fans can buy Manchester City tickets at the club exchange or through a trusted reseller like Seatsnet.com.
Match stats and head-to-head
• There have been 171 Manchester derbies, with United leading the head-to-head with 67 wins against City’s 56, while 48 of this fixture have ended in a draw.
• A sky-high 18 goals have been scored in the last three games between these two sides at the Etihad Stadium.
• City have kept only one clean sheet in their last ten games, with the only clean sheet in that run coming in the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
• With six goals and three assists in his last four games against United, Erling Haaland now holds the record for the most goal contributions by any City player against the Red Devils in the Premier League.
• The Cityzens have conceded at least two goals in nine of their last ten matches, including four in one match against Ruben Amorim’s led Sporting Lisbon side.
• Bernardo Silva has a knack for getting carded in big games, with 34% of his 67 yellow cards coming against Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, and United. He has been yellow-carded six times already this season, with two coming in his last four games in the Premier League.
• With an average of 8.85 corners per game, City have won more corners than any other team in the Premier League so far in this campaign.
• United have opened the scoring in their last three games against City in all competitions.
• Despite the Cityzens poor run of form, no other team has recovered more points from losing positions than City’s 14 points this season.
• A loss to City on Sunday would be the first time United’s head coach, Amorim, has ever lost three consecutive top-flight games in his managerial career. The Portuguese coach will be hoping to make it back-to-back managerial wins over the Cityzens.
• City’s 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace in their last Premier League game was the first they avoided defeat despite going behind twice, last achieving such a feat in a 2-2 draw against Liverpool in October 2021.
• Palace’s fourth-minute opening goal was the seventh goal the defending champions have conceded in the opening 15 minutes in the league this season, the joint most in the competition alongside West Ham United.
• No team in the Premier League has scored more goals from outside the box this season than City’s 22 goals.
• United have failed to win any of their last five away matches in the Premier League this season. They’ve only won two of their last 13 away games, and their only away win this season came in the 3-0 win over Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium in September.
Team news
Rico Lewis will miss the clash on Sunday due to suspension after being carded twice in the 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace.
At the time of writing, Manuel Akanji and John Stones are yet to fully recover from their respective injuries, and their participation in this clash hinges on a late fitness test.
Rodri and Oscar Bobb remain the Cityzens longest absentees with anterior cruciate ligament and leg injuries, respectively. Nathan Ake is expected to return early next year as he continues his rehabilitation from a thigh injury.
On a positive note for Pep Guardiola, Mateo Kovacic returned to the bench in their defeat to Juventus and will be in contention for a starting berth against United.
For United, there’s been more positive news in terms of injuries, as Tyrell Malacia and Leny Yoro are now back in the squad and contending for places in the starting lineup.
Jonny Evans is nearing a return to the side, and it remains to be seen if he’ll be involved this weekend.
Luke Shaw appears to be United’s only injury concern after the England international suffered a setback upon his return to the squad. He’s currently out of contention with a calf injury, and the club will be taking a more cautious approach to help the 29-year-old recover fully.
Predicted starting lineup
Man City predicted starting lineup:
Ortega; Walker, Dias, Simpson-Pusey, Gvardiol; De Bruyne, Kovacic; Silva, Foden, Nunes; Haaland.
Man Utd predicted starting lineup:
Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez; Diallo, Ugarte, Mainoo, Dalot; Fernandes, Garnacho; Hojlund.
Prediction
Ten losses in ten games is a sackable offence, but unless your name is Pep Guardiola and you’ve won four league titles in a row, it’s merely considered a rough patch, and the word ‘sack’ remains far from being entertained or even considered.
As the saying goes, ‘Only those who dare fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.’ What could Guardiola’s plan for Sunday be: fail again to Amorim or kickstart a winning run to achieve great success this season? The final whistle will tell.
We’re predicting a 3-2 win for City.
