Ladies and gentleman, strap yourselves in for one of the biggest fixtures in the cosmos, Manchester City vs Manchester United. These two old rivals reacquaint themselves with each other on Saturday evening and there are bound to be fireworks.
Just one point separates the two teams going into the game. As things are looking so tight, you may be struggling to predict which way it’s going to go. Lucky for you, PlayersBest is here to help out. Our tipsters have some of the strongest football knowledge in the galaxy. Read on to find out how they see this one going.
One of the hallmarks of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s time in charge at Old Trafford has been his team’s inconsistency. This has continued this season with the Red Devils enjoying a mixed start, winning six, drawing once and suffering three defeats.
The City game represents the first chance for United to bounce back from being booted out of the Champions League by RB Leipzig. Whether this will inspire United to prove their doubters wrong or work against Solskjaer’s team remains to be seen.
In terms of injuries, forward Edinson Cavani and Anthony Martial face a race against time to be fit but all their other stars are available.
At the start of the season, few predicted that City would fail to win half of their opening 10 Premier League games. Yet, this is exactly what happened.
During their topsy turvy start, they have seriously missed all-time record scorer Sergio Aguero. For the first time in many years, the team’s shoddy finishing means they are underperforming their expected goals (xG) – something no one else in the top of the table in doing.
However, Aguero is now back and after scoring his first of the season against Lyon in midweek, he will be desperate to add to his nine goals in 16 games vs United.
The Manchester derby is one of the most anticipated sporting events in the Milky Way. The two sides first met back in 1891 – albeit under different names – and there have been 181 meetings since.
Historically, United have enjoyed the advantage, winning 76 of the contests compared to City’s 54. 52 of the games have ended all square.
More recently, despite City’s dominance in terms of league finishes, things have been pretty tight. Out of the last eight meetings, each side has won four each with United clinching the last game 2-0 thanks to goals from Martial and Scott McTominay.
If you want to bet like the best football tipsters in the galaxy, you must learn to look at the statistics before placing any wagers. They hold the key to a big win more often than not. Here are three stats that stood out for Saturday’s game during our team’s analysis.
It’s a tough one to call, but we cannot look past a home win here. Expect United to take all three points and deal a serious blow to City’s title hopes.
On several occasions already this season, City have found themselves horrendously exposed on the counter. During their 5-2 defeat to Leicester and 2-0 defeat to Tottenham their opponents were happy to soak up pressure before surging forward using vertical passes and pace. It was devastatingly effective and there is little to suggest that City have strengthened their glass jaw since.
With this in mind, we are backing United to win. Under Solskjaer, they have evolved into one of the best counter attacking threats in the league with the speed of Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood, as well as the guile of Bruno Fernandes likely to make the difference.
The best odds we can find for our tip this week was 17/5, which is very generously being offered by Unibet. Make sure you check back over the festive period for more football tips from PlayersBest.
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