Premier League: Manchester City v Manchester United betting preview & free tips

Football tips, best bets and predictions for Manchester City v Manchester United in the Premier League.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Premier League & Main Event, 5.30pm Saturday

Best bet

Manchester City -1.5 on Asian handicap
1pt 23-25 bet365
Back this tip with bet365

Team news

Manchester City
Ilkay Gundogan is available after suspension but Aymeric Laporte, Leroy Sane (both knee) and Sergio Aguero (thigh) are out.

Manchester United
Anthony Martial (minor injury) may return) but Paul Pogba (ankle) is out and Eric Bailly (knee) is a long-term absentee.

Match preview

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be sitting more comfortably after steering Manchester United to a well-deserved 2-1 victory over Tottenham on Wednesday but his future could be thrown into fresh doubt by a heavy derby defeat at the Etihad.

A massive week for Solskjaer and United started in the best possible fashion but speculation over the Norwegian's future has not gone away because an obvious potential replacement is waiting in the wings.

Mauricio Pochettino is odds-on with most firms to be the next Manchester United manager and calls for his appointment will probably increase unless the Red Devils can upset the derby odds.

Despite falling behind Manchester City since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement, they have had some good moments at the Etihad in recent years.

Louis Van Gaal's United triumphed 1-0 away to City in March 2016 and Jose Mourinho's team staged a remarkable fightback in April 2018, coming from 2-0 down to win 3-2.

However, last season's contests were one-sided with City winning 3-1 at the Etihad and 2-0 at Old Trafford, and there is every chance of a clear gap between the sides this week.

Nine of City's 11 Premier League wins have been by at least two goals and they will approach the match full of confidence after defeating Burnley 4-1 at Turf Moor on Tuesday.

Substitute Riyad Mahrez finished off the rout against Burnley with a superb individual goal and handed a selection headache to Pep Guardiola, who must choose between the Algerian, Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling to fill the wide positions.

Guardiola has less of a conundrum at centre-forward with Sergio Aguero not expected to be ready. Gabriel Jesus is an excellent alternative and has a spring in his step after two goals on Tuesday.

City's attacking riches put them in a different stratosphere to United, who rely heavily on young players.

Mason Greenwood led the line against Tottenham and did a decent job but it was his first Premier League start of the season and it is asking a lot for him to play a key role at the Etihad.

Marcus Rashford looks the bigger threat and will be a danger if afforded the space to run at City's suspect defence.

City will look to address the problem at source by dominating the midfield areas.

A lot has been said about City playing with less intensity and missing the midfield presence of Fernandinho, who has dropped into the back four. But they dominated the midfield exchanges at Burnley, harvesting 76 per cent possession, and will look to do something similar against United.

The schedule hugely benefits City because they had an easier midweek match and an extra day to recover.

United played at a decent tempo against Spurs with midfielders Fred and Scott McTominay, returning from a three-game layoff, getting through plenty of work.

But the duo may struggle to reach the same heights less than three days later and are likely to discover that Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva are tougher adversaries than Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko were on Wednesday.

Despite beating Spurs, United are 22 points adrift of Liverpool and 11 adrift of City.

For the most part they have looked an ordinary side and the Citizens look a solid bet to win by at least two goals.

Key stat

Nine of Manchester City's last 11 league wins have been by at least two goals.

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