The Manchester Derby: 5 factors that could decide the game

#1 Can De Gea be the wall between the sticks?

90 long minutes await De Gea on Sunday

De Gea is the perhaps Manchester United’s best player currently. Although a few people term him as an overrated keeper, it is largely due to the fact that he flopped at the World Cup. De Gea was a crucial part of United’s team last year. United’s defensive woes are acts as a burden on the Manchester United #1.

Last season against Arsenal, Manchester relied on De Gea alone to win the game. This season against Newcastle, although he conceded two goals, he kept his team in the hunt with a couple of stunning saves. When Juventus visited the Old Trafford, only one goal went past him. He was terrific on the night making save after save.

A team like United that likes to defend their way to victory after taking the lead has put its complete trust on their #1. De Gea has been up to the task many times but Sunday is a very tough day to come. Manchester City are coming off a 6 goal barrage against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Their forwards caused a lot of problems for Alisson in the Liverpool game, even though they faced a strong defensive line. With all due respect, Manchester United doesn’t have as good a defence as Liverpool and De Gea’s should be in for a long night.

De Gea might not lead the clean sheet charts. But he has made a lot of saves. He has made saves that went on to decide the outcome of the game. He can't do everything alone and the Reds have to give as much support as the can. Manchester City has players who are good on set pieces like Mahrez and Silva.

They have players who can head the ball in Laporte and Stones. They also are a team who can turn the counter-attacks into goals. De Gea should hope his defence helps him enough but he should avoid making errors to go with it,

This Sunday is a chance for the Red Devils to show that they deserve to have De Gea play for them.