Man City vs Man Utd Preview: Team News & Prediction

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It's the Manchester Derby on Sunday as a woefully out-of-form Man City side welcome Ruben Amorim's Man Utd to the Etihad.

Kick-off date/time: Sunday 15th December, 2024: UK – 4:30pm / US ET – 11:30am / US PT – 8:30am

How to watch on TV: UK – Sky Sports / US – USA Network

How to watch online: UK – Sky Go / US – nbc.com

Man City Preview: The slump continues

After an unprecedented collapse in form under Pep Guardiola, it appears that the 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest last Wednesday was something of a false dawn as the champions followed that with a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace last weekend and a 2-0 defeat to Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Although the impact of the loss of Balon d'Or winner Rodri has been well-documented, the issues in the City squad clearly go deeper than that, and it is now just one win in their last ten games across all competitions.

Man Utd Preview: Long road ahead

It's back-to-back Premier League defeats now for Man Utd, who followed a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal with a 2-3 loss at home to Nottingham Forest last weekend, and it is clear that Ruben Amorim has a massive job ahead of him to turn the club's fortunes around.

There was some respite in the Europa League on Thursday though, with the Red Devils coming from behind to win 1-2 at Viktoria Plzen with Rasmus Hojlund scoring his second brace of this season's competition.

Man City Team News: Defensive crisis

There is a significant deficit of available defenders for Pep Guardiola as Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake and John Stones are expected to miss out, while Rico Lewis is suspended after being dismissed against Palace. Youngster Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, then, could partner Ruben Dias at centre-back.

In better news, Mateo Kovacic and Phil Foden were in the midweek Champions League squad and could be called upon here.

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Walker, Simpson-Pusey, Dias, Gvardiol; Gundogan, Kovacic; Savinho, De Bruyne, Foden; Haaland

Unavailable: Akanji (Injured), Ake (Injured), Stones (Injured), Lewis (Suspended). Rodri (Injured), Bobb (Injured)

Questionable:

Man Utd Team News: Healthy squad

Luke Shaw is the only confirmed absentee, while Jonny Evans could be involved in the squad after a return to training. Victor Lindelof, who had previously been out, was amongst the substitutes in Plzen.

Amorim therefore has several options available to him across all positions, as he searches for the winning formula.

Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez; Diallo, Mainoo, Fernandes, Dalot; Mount, Garnacho; Hojlund

Unavailable: Shaw (Injured)

Questionable: Evans (Injured)

Man City vs Man Utd Prediction

Even though Man Utd are hardly firing on all cylinders in this early stages of Ruben Amorim's tenure, the dramatic nature of City's recent downturn means that they will head into this derby with their local rivals truly believing that they can come away from the Etihad with three points.

The hosts look a shadow of themselves right now, but as their opponents have often done in recent years when their form was otherwise unimpressive, they could raise themselves for this derby contest. With United still conceding goals regularly, and with City missing several senior defenders, a high-scoring Manchester Derby could ensure, regardless of who comes out on top.

Man City vs Man Utd Tip: Over 3.5 goals