Man City v Man Utd predictions: United can maintain Etihad excellence

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Manchester City v Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Premier League & Main Event, 4.30pm Sunday

Best bet

Man Utd or draw double chance
1pt 2-1 Coral

Team news

Manchester City
Ruben Dias will miss four to six weeks with a hamstring injury.

Manchester United
Edinson Cavani (groin) is back in contention.

Match preview

Manchester United fans have had to get used to finishing second best in their city in recent seasons but they have celebrated plenty of success in the Manchester derby.

Ralf Rangnick is gearing up for his first derby in charge of the Old Trafford club, and one of the main reasons for him getting the top job was the insipid offering Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side delivered in a 2-0 derby defeat at Old Trafford last November.

United barely laid a glove on Manchester City that day and Solskjaer lasted only one more game - a 4-1 defeat at Watford - before being shown the exit.

However, it is worth remembering that the Red Devils have generally fared quite well against City and have triumphed on four of their last five visits to the Etihad.

Exactly one year ago United were 2-0 winners on City soil and they would have been interested observers when City were stunned by Tottenham at home a couple of weeks ago.

The Citizens were ruthlessly punished for making too many defensive errors against Spurs and their defence had been weakened this week by the news that influential centre-back Ruben Dias faces at least a month on the sidelines with a hamstring strain.

Simon Giles on Ralf Rangnick's impact on Man United

Shaun Wright-Phillips gives his thoughts on the match

Dias was part of the City team who eased to a 2-0 success at Peterborough in Tuesday's FA Cup fifth-round tie.

Selecting strong teams for domestic cups has been a common approach for Guardiola, who is as hungry as ever to collect as many trophies as possible. But Guardiola might have to be a little bit more careful with his selections going forward because City face a busy schedule and could have to squeeze in a further 20 matches between now and the end of the season.

His team looked a little jaded in last weekend's 1-0 win at Everton and they might have dropped points had Rodri been penalised for what looked like a clear handball in the penalty area.

While City are having to manage the pressures of an increasingly demanding title race, United need to keep picking up points in their quest for a top-four finish.

United were wasteful last Saturday when drawing 0-0 at home to Watford, but they have become tougher to beat and have lost only once in 20 games since Solskjaer's dismissal.

Every poor United performance is met by a hail of criticism, but they did plenty of good things against Watford and were simply missing the final pass or finish.

When faced with tougher fixtures, United can often rise to the occasion and it would not be a huge surprise if they did so again against their great rivals.

Key stat

Manchester United are unbeaten in their last nine away games.

Inside info

Manchester City

Penalty taker Raheem Sterling/Riyad Mahrez
Free-kick wizard Kevin De Bruyne
Set-piece aerial threat John Stones
Card magnet Rodri

Manchester United

Penalty taker Cristiano Ronaldo
Free-kick wizardBruno Fernandes/Cristiano Ronaldo
Set-piece aerial threatHarry Maguire
Card magnetScott McTominay

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