On Saturday afternoon, Manchester United welcome arch-rivals Manchester City to Old Trafford, as both sides aim to keep pace with Arsenal in the Premier League title race.
The old foes are separated by four points in the standings, with second-place Man City leading fourth-place Man Utd. Meanwhile, the Gunners sit five points clear of the chasing pack.
Can the Red Devils extend their winning streak in the Premier League to five games? Or will Pep Guardiola’s side claim the Manchester bragging rights this weekend?
Man Utd head into Saturday’s showdown on the back of a 3-0 win against Charlton Athletic in the EFL Cup quarter-finals, with Marcus Rashford coming off the bench to bag a brace.
Rashford has now scored seven goals in his last six appearances for United, as well as 13 goals in his previous 17 games for club and country.
Erik ten Hag’s side have won each of their past eight games across all competitions, scoring over 2.5 goals on five occasions while keeping five clean sheets.
Better still, United have only lost three of their last 27 home games and have avoided defeat at half time in each of their previous 14.
As for Man City, they suffered a shock 2-0 defeat against Southampton in the EFL Cup on Wednesday – failing to record a single shot on target despite seeing 72% of the ball.
Guardiola’s side were enjoying a five-game unbeaten streak following the World Cup break, having picked up four wins and one draw across all competitions.
Although City’s unbeaten streak has ended, it is worth remembering that the defending champions have only lost two of their 17 Premier League matches this season.
It is also worth noting that Guardiola’s men are the Premier League’s top scorers, thanks largely to Erling Haaland’s 21 goals in 16 league games.
Head-to-head: In 2022, Man City thrashed United on two occasions in the Premier League – winning 4-1 and 6-3. In the most recent meeting, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden both netted hat-tricks.
It is also worth noting that Man Utd have managed to win just one of their last six league meetings with City, suffering four defeats along the way.
Team news: Man Utd will be without the injured Donny van de Beek on Saturday, while Diogo Dalot is a doubt. Plus, Jadon Sancho remains absent from ten Hag’s squad.
Man City have one injury absentee at the moment, with centre-back Ruben Dias expected to remain on the treatment table for the foreseeable future.
Although United have upped their game under ten Hag in recent times, Guardiola’s men still have more than enough firepower to claim all three points on Saturday.
For that reason, Forebet predicts that Man City will score over 1.5 goals on their way to claiming the Manchester bragging rights at Old Trafford.