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Arch-rivals Manchester United and Manchester City will renew their rivalry as they clash at Old Trafford on Saturday evening. It's a classic six-pointer with City sitting third in the Premier League table with 20 points while Manchester United are sixth with 17. A win is the need of the hour for both sides.
Last week, the Red Devils turned in an encouraging performance against an out-of-sorts Tottenham Hotspur, beating them 3-0. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had opted for a change of shape and United lined up with a three-man defence against Spurs.
However, they did struggle a fair bit against Atalanta in midweek, although Cristiano Ronaldo's heroics once again helped save their blushes. Manchester United came from behind twice to draw the game 2-2. It's been a testing few weeks for Solskjaer and his side.
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Following the humbling they received at the hands of Liverpool, they cannot afford to lose against another rival. But Manchester United have reasons to be optimistic ahead of the Manchester derby.
Let's take a look at five reasons why Manchester United could beat Manchester City.
#5 Manchester City injury concerns ahead of clash against Manchester United
Both sides have their fair share of injury problems heading into the game. Manchester United will be without Raphael Varane and Paul Pogba. While the centre-back is out with a hamstring injury, Pogba is suspended after picking up a straight red card against Liverpool.
Varane will be sorely missed and Solskjaer will hope that Eric Bailly plays out of his skin once again like he did against Atalanta in midweek.
As for Pogba, Manchester United are unlikely to miss him much after his horror show in midweek. Coming to Manchester City, they will be without Aymeric Laporte, who is serving a suspension as well. Kyle Walker picked up a knock in the game against Club Brugge and might not feature here.
Manchester City have been vulnerable to counter-attacks this season. They have also not been able to negotiate long balls into their own half well enough to be confident of keeping the United attack at bay. Rashford and Greenwood have exploited this weakness of theirs in the past.
With two of their main defenders likely to sit this one out, the fixture might have just got a little bit harder for Pep Guardiola and co.
#4 Manchester City's inconsistency in attack
Another source of concern for Pep Guardiola will be the fluctuating form of his forwards. Pep Guardiola will have selection dilemmas when it comes to his frontline. He will need his players to maximize their chances in the derby but the Manchester City forwards have been far from consistent this term.
Raheem Sterling has been trying to get a look in and he just might after an impressive cameo against Club Brugge in midweek. However, Aaron Wan-Bissaka has proved to be an indomitable adversary for Sterling in recent meetings.
Jack Grealish had yet another quiet outing in midweek. Gabriel Jesus has been impressive on occasion but his productivity has not been anywhere near what's expected of him. Kevin De Bruyne is yet to hit his stride in the new season as well.
This Manchester United team performs best when their backs are against the wall. It is also interesting to note that City have not scored a single goal in any of their last three Premier League meetings against Manchester United.
#3 Manchester United attackers are finding their groove
Manchester City will have their work cut out trying to contain the Manchester United forwards on Saturday. Mason Greenwood helped Manchester United turn up the heat as they were chasing the game against Atalanta in the second half.
Greenwood provided the assist for Cristiano Ronaldo's late equalizer. The youngster looked sharp and the time off seems to have done him some good.
Marcus Rashford is an expert at running in behind the defence and this Manchester City backline is vulnerable to that. He has looked sharp since returning from injury and he could be deployed from the start here.
Rashford is also well-rested which means that the Manchester City full-backs will need be on high-alerts and not commit forward as much as they would want to. Edinson Cavani has been very impressive in the limited opportunities he has been given.
He was at his industrious best against Tottenham Hotspur last week and scored a well deserved goal as well. On top of that, Jadon Sancho made an impression in his little cameo against Atalanta. United have plenty of attackers who offer very different things. This facilitates better in-game management.
Solskjaer is also pretty good with his substitutions and this attacking depth could turn things in Manchester United's favour on Saturday.
#2 Manchester United unbeaten against Manchester City in last four league matches
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has won more games against Pep Guardiola than he has lost. He has had Pep's number in recent meetings. Manchester United are unbeaten in their last four league meetings against Manchester City and have won three of their last four games against them.
Manchester United have scored six goals in that time while Manchester City have scored just one. As a club legend, Solskjaer also knows just how important these derbies are. His side have also performed best when they are under pressure, although the humiliation against Liverpool is an exception.
But the important thing here is that Manchester United know that they can beat this Manchester City side. They have done it convincingly in the recent past. This is also not Manchester City's finest hour per se. It's hard to fault Manchester United for fancying their chances here.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes' form
Bruno Fernandes' playmaking has been on a different level altogether this term. With Cristiano Ronaldo's arrival, Fernandes' goals have dried up for obvious reasons. But he has only channeled that energy towards orchestrating play for his side.
Since joining Manchester United, Fernandes has been involved in more goals than any other Premier League player in all competitions. He has created a whopping 37 chances so far in the Premier League, which is 12 more than Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jack Grealish who are joint-second.
In Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United have one of the greatest goalscorers in the history of the game. He has been in spectacular form as well. He scored a wonderful volley against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend. He then bagged a brace against Atalanta.
The second goal against the Serie A outfit was yet another stunning volley but this time it came from outside the box. When Ronaldo is in that kind of form, he is difficult to silence. With Bruno Fernandes carving out close to four big chances per game, it would be foolish to write this Manchester United side off.
