Manchester City’s title credentials will be put to the test on Sunday when the Premier League leaders travel to Old Trafford for this season’s first derby clash against rivals Manchester United in Week 16.
Few might have thought coming into this season that we’d be eyeing a potential title decider in December, but the fact City can move 11 points clear if they win at United almost makes this the case in Week 16.
City’s hope of doing exactly that was handed a major boost when Paul Pogba saw red against Arsenal on Saturday.
It also doesn’t help United’s case that key centre-backs Eric Bailly and Phil Jones have missed the last four league games in succession.
Guardiola may be inclined to agree, too, after saying after United’s 3-1 win against Arsenal that he would have liked to play against Pogba, via Goal:
Unfortunately for Jose Mourinho’s Red Devils, Pogba would have been an essential figure in keeping City’s rampaging midfield and attack quiet; players like Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and Raheem Sterling, to name a few.
Without his superstar presence in the engine room, United miss the one swashbuckling presence in their side who could hold a torch to any of City’s in-form ranks. City haven’t been at their most confident at late, but a crucial knack for grinding out results nonetheless combined with quality should steer them to three points.
The Citizens sit eight points clear at the head of the standings, but United can make up some vital ground in the top-flight title race if they manage to clinch a home win against Pep Guardiola’s high flyers.
As well as vital points at stake in the Premier League title race, there is the small matter of bragging rights in the city to play for as United host the “noisy neighbours”.
If that is not enough, there is the intriguing battle between United boss Jose Mourinho and his opposite number Pep Guardiola. Widely regarded as two of the best coaches in the business, the pair have frequently clashed in the past and Mourinho can be expected to try his mind games again ahead of City’s trip to Old Trafford.
Guardiola has the better head-to-head record against Mourinho’s teams but the honours were shared in his first season in England. Both teams enjoyed one win each before a goalless stalemate at Old Trafford in April, although United’s win came in the EFL Cup when neither side was at full strength.
Goals have been in short supply in this fixture since United’s 4-2 win in the 2014/15 season. Since then, five games have produced just five goals and neither side has won by more than one goal.
The attacking talent on show following the summer spending of both clubs could tempt punters to back a more entertaining contest this time. The signing of Romelu Lukaku is expected to see United challenge for the title this season and the Belgium striker scored in both of Everton’s games against City last season.
Elsewhere, champions Chelsea will attempt to continue their good stretch of form when they make the short trip to West Ham United in Saturday’s early kick-off, and sixth-placed Tottenham Hotspur play host to Stoke City.
HEAD TO HEAD
Team P W D L
Man City 150 44 47 59
Man Utd 150 59 47 44
Possible Line-Up
Man City XI: Ederson, Walker, Otamendi, Mangala, Delph; Gundogan, Fernandinho, Silva; Sterling, Jesus, Sane
Man Utd XI: De Gea, Pereira, Valencia, Young, Tuanzebe, Darmian, Matic, Lindelof, Rojo, Smalling, Lukaku.
WEEKEND FIXTURES
EPL
West Ham v Chelsea
Burnley v Watford
Hud’sfield v Brighton
C/Palace v Bo’mouth
Tottenham v Stoke
Swansea v West Brom
Newcastle v Leicester
So’mpton v Arsenal
Liverpool v Everton
Man Utd v Man City
LALIGA
Alavés v Palmas
Getafe v Eibar
Real Madrid v Sevilla
Deportivo v Leganés
Valencia v Celta
Sociedad v Málaga
Real Betis v Atlético
Levante v Athletic
Villarreal v Barcelona
BUNDESLIGA
Stuttgart v Leverkusen
Frankfurt v Bayern
Hamburger v Wolfsburg
Dortmund v Bremen
RB Leipzig v Mainz
M’gladbach v Schalke
Köln v Freiburg
Hannover v Hoffenheim
Augsburg v Hertha
SERIE A
Cagliari v Sampdoria
Juventus v Inter
Chievo v Roma
Napoli v Fiorentina
SPAL v Hellas
Udinese v Benevento
Sassuolo v Crotone
Milan v Bologna
Genoa v Atalanta
Lazio v Torino
LIGUE I
Bordeaux v Strasbourg
PSG v Lille
Monaco v Troyes
Guingamp v Dijon
Angers v Montpellier
Toulouse v Caen
Metz v Rennes
Amiens v Lyon
Nantes v Nice
Marseille v Saint-Étienne
TOP SCORERS
EPL
Player Club Goals
Mohamed Salah Liverpool 12
Harry Kane Tottenham 10
Sergio Aguero Man City 9
Raheem Sterling Man City 9
Alvaro Morata Chelsea 9
Romelu Lukaku Man Utd 8
Gabriel Jesus Man City 8
A. Lacazette Arsenal 8
Jamie Vardy Leicester 7
Wayne Rooney Everton 7
SERIE A
Players Teams Goals
Mauro Icardi Inter 16
Ciro Immobile Lazio 15
Paulo Dybala Juventus 12
Dries Mertens Napoli 10
Gonzalo Higuaín Juventus 9
Edin Dzeko Roma 8
Fabio Quagliarella Sampdoria 7
Ivan Perišic Inter 7
LA LIGA
Players Team Goals
L. Messi Barcelona 13
C. Bakambu Villarreal 9
S. Zaza Valencia 9
I. Aspas Celta Vigo 8
C. Stuani Girona 8
A. Sanabria Real Betis 7
Willian José Sociedad 7
Maxi Gomez Celta Vigo 7
Á. Rodríguez Getafe 6
L. Suárez Barcelona 6
M. Oyarzábal Sociedad 6
C. Portugués Girona 5
LIGUE 1
Players Teams Goals
Edinson Cavani PSG 15
Radamel Falcao Monaco 13
Mariano Lyon 16
Nabil Fekir Lyon 13
Neymar PSG 12
Mario Balotelli Nice 11
Memphis Depay Lyon 15
Premier
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Man City 15 14 1 0 46 10 36 43
2 Man Utd 15 11 2 2 35 9 26 35
3 Chelsea 15 10 2 3 28 12 16 32
4 Liverpool 15 8 5 2 33 19 14 29
5 Arsenal 15 9 1 5 29 19 10 28
6 Tottenham 15 7 4 4 23 13 10 25
7 Burnley 15 7 4 4 14 12 2 25
8 Watford 15 6 4 5 25 26 -1 22
9 Leicester 15 5 5 5 20 20 0 20
10 Everton 15 5 3 7 19 28 -9 18
11 S’ampton 15 4 5 6 15 18 -3 17
12 Brighton 15 4 5 6 14 19 -5 17
13 Stoke City 15 4 4 7 18 30 -12 16
14 B’mouth 15 4 3 8 13 17 -4 15
15 Newcastle 15 4 3 8 14 22 -8 15
16 Huds’field 15 4 3 8 9 26 -17 15
17 West Brom 15 2 7 6 12 21 -9 13
18 C/Palace 15 2 4 9 8 25 -17 10
19 West Ham 15 2 4 9 13 32 -19 10
20 Swansea 15 2 3 10 8 18 -10 9
LALIGA
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Barcelona 14 11 3 0 36 7 29 36
2 Valencia 14 9 4 1 33 13 20 31
3 Atlético 14 8 6 0 23 7 16 30
4 Real Madrid 14 8 4 2 25 11 14 28
5 Sevilla 14 9 1 4 19 14 5 28
6 Villarreal 14 6 3 5 22 18 4 21
7 Leganés 14 6 2 6 12 13 -1 20
8 Getafe 14 5 4 5 20 15 5 19
9 Sociedad 14 5 4 5 28 26 2 19
10 Celta Vigo 14 5 3 6 26 21 5 18
11 Real Betis 14 5 3 6 23 28 -5 18
12 Girona 14 4 5 5 18 22 -4 17
13 Eibar 14 5 2 7 16 27 -11 17
14 Levante 14 3 7 4 14 20 -6 16
15 Espanyol 14 4 4 6 11 18 -7 16
16 Athletic 14 3 5 6 14 18 -4 14
17 Deportivo 14 3 3 8 17 27 -10 12
18 Las Palmas 14 3 1 10 11 32 -21 10
19 Alavés 14 3 0 11 10 24 -14 9
20 Málaga 14 2 2 10 11 28 -17 8
Bundesliga
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Bayern 14 10 2 2 34 11 23 32
2 RB Leipzig 14 8 2 4 22 19 3 26
3 Schalke 04 14 7 4 3 22 16 6 25
4 M’gladbach 14 7 3 4 23 25 -2 24
5 Hoffenheim 14 6 5 3 25 18 7 23
6 Dortmund 14 6 4 4 34 21 13 22
7 Augsburg 14 6 4 4 21 16 5 22
8 Frankfurt 14 6 4 4 16 14 2 22
9 Leverkusen 14 5 6 3 27 19 8 21
10 Hannover 96 14 5 4 5 17 19 -2 19
11 Wolfsburg 14 3 8 3 20 19 1 17
12 Hertha BSC 14 4 5 5 19 21 -2 17
13 Stuttgart 14 5 2 7 13 17 -4 17
14 Mainz 05 14 4 3 7 15 22 -7 15
15 Hamburger 14 4 2 8 13 20 -7 14
16 Freiburg 14 2 6 6 9 25 -16 12
17 Bremen 14 2 5 7 9 16 -7 11
18 Köln 14 0 3 11 6 27 -21 3
SERIE A
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Inter 15 12 3 0 33 10 23 39
2 Napoli 15 12 2 1 35 10 25 38
3 Juventus 15 12 1 2 41 14 27 37
4 Roma 14 11 1 2 27 10 17 34
5 Lazio 14 10 2 2 35 16 19 32
6 Sampdoria 14 8 2 4 28 20 8 26
7 Fiorentina 15 6 3 6 26 19 7 21
8 Milan 15 6 3 6 21 20 1 21
9 Bologna 15 6 3 6 18 18 0 21
10 Atalanta 15 5 5 5 21 19 2 20
11 Torino 15 4 8 3 19 21 -2 20
12 Chievo 15 5 5 5 17 26 -9 20
13 Cagliari 15 5 1 9 14 25 -11 16
14 Udinese 14 5 0 9 21 24 -3 15
15 Genoa 15 3 4 8 13 20 -7 13
16 Crotone 15 3 3 9 11 30 -19 12
17 Sassuolo 15 3 2 10 8 27 -19 11
18 SPAL 15 2 4 9 13 26 -13 10
19 Hellas 15 2 3 10 12 30 -18 9
20 Benevento 15 0 1 14 8 36 -28 1
LIGUE 1
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 PSG 16 13 2 1 48 12 36 41
2 Lyon 16 9 5 2 40 18 22 32
3 Monaco 16 10 2 4 37 16 21 32
4 Marseille 16 9 5 2 32 19 13 32
5 Nantes 16 8 3 5 15 16 -1 27
6 Rennes 16 7 3 6 21 19 2 24
7 Caen 16 7 2 7 11 16 -5 23
8 Montpellier 16 5 7 4 13 9 4 22
9 Amiens 16 6 3 7 15 17 -2 21
10 Dijon 16 6 3 7 24 27 -3 21
11 Bordeaux 16 5 5 6 22 23 -1 20
12 St-Étienne 16 5 5 6 17 24 -7 20
13 Nice 16 6 2 8 20 27 -7 20
14 Guingamp 16 5 4 7 15 23 -8 19
15 Troyes 16 5 3 8 16 21 -5 18
16 Strasbourg 16 4 6 6 19 27 -8 18
17 Lille 16 5 3 8 15 23 -8 18
18 Toulouse 16 4 4 8 14 23 -9 16
19 Angers 16 2 8 6 18 26 -8 14
20 Metz 16 1 1 14 6 32 -26 4
