Preview, teamnews, line-ups and scores prediction as United and City square up for the glory of Manchester derby

The red side, proud history and one of the best on the planet, success have been hard to come by recently while the blue side, modern and in the best status they have even been since their existence. Two teams of different status, and for the three points on Saturday, they will do battle.

Manchester United welcome their city rivals to the Theater of dreams, with a motive to bring to life their own dreams, while City visit looking to shatter those dreams to give life to their own.

In their last two games, magical moments courtesy of Cristiano Ronaldo has slowly turned the tongue from singing ‘Ole Out’ to looking out for the next game, with the hope of singing glory glory Manchester United, and the manager will need more of this brilliance when their city rivals storms the Old Trafford Stadium this weekend.

Defending Champions, City have endured a couple of horrendous results prior to their mid-week smashing of Belgium outfit Club Brugge in the Champions League. Pep Guardiola side were eliminated from the Carabao Cup on penalties and that was followed by a shocking home loss to Crystal Palace in the league.

Under the tutelage of Ole Gunnar Solskjær, United have found joy playing against their local rival. Out of the eight meetings between the two, four have been victory for the red side with one ending in stalemate, and United are also on a run of four league games without losing to City, winning three.

As it stands, the history looks more on the side of the host but in a derby match as fierce as the one between the two Manchester clubs, the unexpected are always bound to unfold.

United will be looking for a victory to put them level on points with City as the Pep Guardiola side have the better goal advantage and a win for the away side sends them to second, just a point behind Liverpool, who play West Ham United away from home on Sunday evening.

Paul Pogba will serve the second of his three-game ban for the red card against Liverpool while Victor Lindelof, having missed the trip to Bergamo is expected to return into the squad for the derby.

French defender, Raphael Varane will be out of action for the foreseeable future due to his injury in the mid-week Champions League game.

The absence of Aymeric Laporte due to the marching orders he got against Palace will give Pep Guardiola the chance to field John Stones, the Englishman who has been limited to just one league start so far and Spanish forward, Ferran Torres remains on the sideline.

– Manchester City Midfield against the United defense will be one of the top battles to look forward to although, it might be a very long day for the defense of the home side which has kept just two clean sheets across all competitions this season, while also conceding 24 big chances, a number for third most in the league this season.

While Pep Guardiola is always known for their fluid free flowing football, that will make it even difficult for the United defense as most options in the attack for City will be Midfielders who are good with the ball. Moreso, Harry Maguire at the moment look lost on the ball.

– Cristiano Ronaldo is a man on form with nine goals in eleven games since his return to the club. He has scored three and assisted one in the last two games and all eyes will be on the Portuguese on Saturday afternoon, when the crowd in Manchester converge at the Old Trafford Stadium.

Even if City have a well organized defense, it is not far away from vulnerable as we have seen last weekend against Crystal Palace, and those weaknesses are what United and Ronaldo will look to explore. Moreso getting Bruno Fernandes in the mood will also be key to good game for the host.

United have scored in all their league games except for the game against Liverpool and Aston Villa. Even if City have a good defence, they have chipped in goals recently and the host might be lucky to get a couple against their rivals.

The United defence though is far inferior to City’s and it will take some nerve to bet against Pep Guardiola side finding the back of the net.

2-1 to the host is the verdict for the derby, but as always, football can be unpredictable.

Manchester United: De Gea, Shaw, Maguire, Bailly, Lindelof, Wan-Bissaka, Fred, McTominay, Fernandes, Cavani, Ronaldo.

Manchester City: Ederson, Cancelo, Ruben Dias, Stones, Rodri, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Grealish, Foden, Jésus.