Top Spot for Grabs as United Host City in Manchester Derby
Manchester United will look to leapfrog Manchester City in the Premier League table with victory in a massive Super Sunday derby clash at Old Trafford today. Louis van Gaal’s men sit two points behind City heading into the weekend’s fixtures, winning four of their past five Premier League outings. Arsenal are currently top of the table after a 2-1 home victory over Everton yesterday. Of the two Manchester clubs, City have the better chance of overhauling Arsenal with a draw against United. On the other hands, the Red Devils can go top with a healthy win.
Anthony Martial rescued a point for United at CSKA Moscow in the Champions League in midweek, while City made it four wins in a row in all competitions as they saw off Sevilla on Wednesday night.
United outclassed City in the meeting at Old Trafford in April, running out 4-2 winners to end their run of four successive derby defeats.
Luke Shaw (leg) and Paddy McNair (liver) are the only injury concerns for Van Gaal. United winger Ashley Young (thigh) is back in training but is not ready to play after missing three weeks.
For City, David Silva (ankle) and Sergio Aguero (hamstring) lead their lengthy injury list. Fabian Delph (hamstring), Gael Clichy (ankle) and Samir Nasri (hamstring) are also out, while Pellegrini hinted in his press conference that he could use Kevin de Bruyne as a striker at Old Trafford.
Vincent Kompany is in contention, but Pellegrini went on to say that “[Eliaquim] Mangala and [Nicolas] Otamendi are doing well”.
Wayne Rooney has scored 11 goals in Manchester derbies (all competitions) - more than any other player - and no player has scored as many Premier League goals as he has by the age of 30 (187).
Manchester City have won six of their past eight Manchester derbies in league competition (lost two), having won only six of the previous 42. The past 10 Manchester derbies in all competitions have seen 41 goals scored (4.1 goals per game). Manchester City have had the most shots on target (74) and have allowed their opponents the fewest (24) in the opening nine matchdays of 2015-16.