Premier League: A Manchester Derby with a Difference

Manchester United vs Manchester City

It’s one of the Premier League’s biggest draws and this weekend sees Ruben Amorin’s Manchester United face off against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in a match of high stakes…but in practical terms for only one of the clubs.

Okay, we can talk about local rivalries and bragging rights and those are important of course, as I well know as a Burnley fan and so does my SBOTOP colleague James, a die hard Red Devil. But even James will admit that all his team are playing for on Sunday is pride. Languishing in 13^th place in the Premier League and still going well in the Europa League, the prize for Amorin’s team is in Europe. Meanwhile the Sky Blues are the favourites to win the FA Cup, out of the Champions League and they are fighting for a place in next season’s competition, currently sitting in fourth.    

Both teams were in Premier League action in midweek; Manchester United were away to Nottingham Forest while City were at home to Leicester City. While the Sky Blues had a cushy ride with a 2-0 win the Red Devils crashed to defeat in the Midlands and the home fans will be hoping for a response on Sunday, back on their home ground and against a team they would dearly love to beat.      

 

Talking Points

Two steps forward and one back for the Red Devils

Let’s not kid ourselves; this is a period of transition for Manchester United and, for Red Devils fans, hopefully one which will see the club progress. But for head coach Ruben Amorin it must be frustrating at times as his team seems to make some headway and then fluff a chance to gather any serious momentum. They followed up an impressive draw with Arsenal by hammering Real Sociedad 4-1 in the Europa League and Leicester City 3-0 in the league. And Sociedad have just drawn 4-4 with Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey second leg. 

This is a long corner United are trying to turn and they took a blow on Tuesday when their former star Anthony Elanga came back to haunt them with the only goal of the game. The winger was allowed to run all of 85 yards from his own penalty area before firing home the winner to give Forest a first double over Manchester United since 1992. The Midlands side had won just one of their last five games and were without injured top scorer Chris Wood. But United were toothless themselves, despite enjoying almost 70 per cent possession and firing 23 shots to Forest’s eight. They are without a clinical striker and have only scored 26 goals in the last 19 games, nine of those against the bottom three clubs who look destined to make a quick return to the Championship.

Amorin threw Rasmus Hojlund on against Forest, as well as centre back Harry Maguire up front but to no avail, and it’s difficult to see who will be able to break down the Manchester City defence.  

 

Marmoush can shine even brighter

The big Premier League 2025 news last week was an injury to Manchester City top scorer Erling Haaland, picked up during the Sky Blues’ FA Cup win over Bournemouth. Reports suggest his ankle injury could keep him out for up to seven weeks, so Haaland will watch the derby from the stands. In his absence his team-mates cruised to a 2-0 win over the Foxes as Jack Grealish scored a first league goal in 16 months while Omar Marmoush scored his sixth goal in nine games for the club. The Egypt star showed what a lethal finisher he can be in two seasons at Eintracht Frankfurt, and when Leicester keeper Mads Hermansen threw the ball out Marmoush rifled it back into the net with a fierce shot which went in off the underside of the crossbar.

In Haaland’s absence Marmoush can step up, and his confidence is clearly sky high; in a season of some frustration for Guardiola this signing looks to be a masterstroke.  

 

History

With 33 wins to 26 the Red Devils still boss the head to head meetings and Amorin’s men took all three points when the two teams met at the Etihad Stadium in December. City led for much of the game before late goals from Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo turned the game on its head. 

In terms of recent form Manchester United have won three, drawn two and lost two of the last seven games while City had won four, drawn one and lost two.

 

Betting Tip

At the start of the campaign the Premier League 2025 betting odds pitched Manchester City as title favourites and United top four candidates; so both have underperformed and are left with hopes of picking up a trophy to appease their fans.

Winning the Manchester Derby would help of course and this one can go either way with the Sky Blues priced at 2.05 and the Red Devils at 2.94. City have the depth of talent and a top striker in Marmoush; but Fernandes has shown his leadership skills time and time again for United and he will be right up for this clash. 

   

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