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Manchester Derby: Preview

The biggest match of the season is here. Can City win it and make history?

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Manchester United v Manchester City - Premier League Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Do you there’s a Manchester Derby on Sunday? Apparently we don’t need to tell you this anymore, because this game has been hyped up for about 3040032138489 weeks, but yeah, we’ll tell you again.

Manchester United and Manchester City meet at Old Trafford this Sunday in the most anticipated match in recent Premier League history. The two are at the top of the table, but the Blues have an eight-point lead over the Reds and could increase the gap to eleven points with a victory, which would virtually guarantee the title for City at the beginning of December, which is crazy.

A win for United and the race is wide open, with City just five points ahead with 22 matches and another Derby still to play. A draw would keep things as they are, with the advantage going to City because it’s one less match to play and the same gap over their biggest rivals.

Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho will meet for the fourth time in English football, with each winning one of the first three matchups. The last game between the two sides ended with a 0-0 draw, but given the importance of a win and the attacking talent for both sides it’s really hard to picture another goalless game.

And there’s another reason to watch this one: if City win, they’ll set the record for the most consecutive wins in the same league season, with 14. It would be a historic mark for what is already one of the best teams in Premier League history, and a victory at Old Trafford would prove once and for all that with Pep here, Manchester is Blue.


MATCH INFO, TV/STREAMING

Date/Time: Sunday, December 10, 2017, 4:30pm GMT (UK), 5:30pm WAT (Nigeria), 11:30am ET, 8:30am PT (USA), 10pm IST (India)

Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester, England

Television: Sky Sports Premier League (UK), NBCSN (USA), TSN1 (Canada), SuperSport 3 (Nigeria), Star Sports Select 1 (India)

Online streaming: Sky GO (UK), NBC Sports Live, NBC Sports Gold (USA), TSN GO (Canada), FuboTV (7-day free trial, click here to sign up)

(Listings via LiveSoccerTV)


TEAM NEWS

There are always mind games when Guardiola and Mourinho meet, and this wasn’t any different. José said that City players dive, and Pep said during the week that Vincent Kompany, Fabian Delph and David Silva may not play, which Mourinho didn’t like (LOL). But the three will play, which means we’ll see a City side at full strength on Sunday.

Kevin De Bruyne will return to the team after missing the Champions League match in midweek through suspension, and a full week of rest ahead of a Derby could be a massive boost for the best player in the Premier League. The only real doubt with City’s starting XI is the striker, but Sergio Agüero is the favorite to start over Gabriel Jesus.


POSSIBLE LINEUPS

Manchester City (4-3-3)

Ederson; Walker, Kompany, Otamendi, Delph; De Bruyne, Fernandinho, D.Silva; Sterling, Agüero, Sané

Manchester United (3-1-4-2)

De Gea; Jones, Smalling, Rojo; Matic; Valencia, Lingard, Herrera, Young; Lukaku, Martial


PREDICTION

We are going to win it, and we are going to make history: 2-1 to the Blues.