Manchester derby.
Manchester United travel to Manchester City on Thursday knowing a victory would see them climb above their city rivals in the Premier League table.
Having spent a large part of the season flitting between sixth and fifth in the rankings, Jose Mourinho's men now have two realistic avenues into the Champions League next season.
United are amidst somewhat of a defensive crisis at present.
Marcos Rojo suffered a knee injury during the club's European meeting with Anderlecht, leading to him being stretchered off midway through the first half, and will miss the rest of the season.
Fellow central defenders Phil Jones and Chris Smalling are also doubts ahead of Thursday's derby clash, though Mourinho may well be forced into involving one of the two due to their desperate situation.
Elsewhere, Juan Mata will also miss out after being ruled out for the season following groin surgery, while Ander Herrera's ankle knock picked up against Burnley may also force him out.
Paul Pogba limped off in the 2-0 win over Burnley and could be rested.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not feature again this season having picked up a knee injury during the meeting with Anderlecht.
Pep Guardiola's City line ups have been almost impossible to predict during his time at the Etihad, with a number of players taking up unfamiliar roles as part of the Catalan's vision.
City expect Sergio Aguero and David Silva to start the derby, having lost both during the club's FA Cup semi-final tie with Arsenal on Sunday.
Gabriel Jesus could return to the bench on Thursday, while captain Vincent Kompany is set to start his third game in a row as John Stones recovers from injury.
The last time these two sides met on a Thursday in the Premier League was in November 1994, with Manchester United winning 5-0 thanks to an Andrei Kanchelskis hat-trick. Indeed, the last four league meetings between these two sides at Turf Moor have produced just two goals in total.
Jose Mourinho has failed to win any of his last four Premier League games against Manchester City (D2, L2) – this after winning six successive top-flight encounters with the Citizens between December 2005 and February 2014.
Pep Guardiola could become the fourth manager to win both home and away Manchester derbies in a debut top-flight season after John Bentley, Sven-Göran Eriksson and Manuel Pellegrini.
Aguero has scored eight goals in 10 competitive appearances for Manchester City against Manchester United but has failed to score in his last two games against them.
Only Alan Shearer (190) has scored in more different Premier League games than Wayne Rooney (149 – level with Frank Lampard & Andrew Cole).
http://www.nairaland.com/3761133/manchester-city-vs-manchester-united
- sports ){kind=link}
0 Comments