Manchester United travel to the Etihad to take on their city rivals, as they look to keep pace with the teams above them. Manchester City will hope for another three points in the title race.
- Date: 03/03/24
- Kick-off time: 15:30
- Venue: Etihad Stadium
The Premier League showcases the Manchester Derby this weekend, with both sides in desperate need of three points. City are currently in second place, a point behind leaders Liverpool and just a point ahead of Arsenal. With their title rivals all playing at an extremely high level, the margin for error is very minimal for the Champions the rest of the way.
Erik Ten Hag’s team are sixth, five points behind Aston Villa in fourth and three behind Tottenham in fifth, though Spurs have a game in hand. Whilst they began the calendar year unbeaten in seven games, they were defeated by Fulham last weekend, which has significantly harmed their hopes of a top-four finish. They will need to get some sort of result this week.
United have struggled to score goals this season, with their total of 36 the lowest in the top half. Although, since the turn of the year, they have seen an improvement, mainly due to the emergence of Rasmus Hojlund as a serious goal threat. The Dane will be sidelined through injury, however, meaning Ten Hag will have to look elsewhere for an offensive spark. This responsibility may fall on the shoulders of Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho, who have scored five goals apiece.
Ten Hag’s side have also kept just one clean sheet in their last nine league fixtures, so they will have a tough time keeping out their hosts, who are in the top three for goals scored, and have the league’s top scorer in Erling Haaland, who has bagged 17.
The two rivals have faced each other 10 times in all competitions since March 2020, and it is a fixture that has seen more success for Man City. They have won six times to United’s three, whilst the points were shared in a goalless draw in the other meeting. The last time the visitors got one over their neighbours was in January of last season, in which they came from behind to take victory. Jack Grealish had opened the scoring in the second half, before goals from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford quickly turned it around.
They also met in last season’s FA Cup final as City won the second trophy of their treble. Ilkay Gundogan netted the fastest goal in FA Cup final history to put his side in front. Fernandes levelled from the spot, but Gundogan won the game with another strike in the second half. The reverse fixture earlier this season also ended in favour of the blue side, as Phil Foden added to Erling Haaland’s brace to secure a 3-0 win at Old Trafford.
