Manchester City v Manchester United: Match Preview, Tips & Odds

Stephen Welch / 4:28 PM GMT • 14th December, 2024

3 minutes

As we look ahead to this huge Manchester derby, here at betting.bet you’ll find everything from the latest team news and match insights to exclusive betting tips and the best pre-match odds.

The standout Premier League fixture of the weekend comes from the home of the champions as Manchester City host Manchester United in a crucial Manchester derby on Sunday afternoon. Both clubs head into the weekend enduring a poor run of form in the Premier League which puts additional importance on the outcome of one of the biggest games on the English football calendar. As we look ahead to this huge Manchester derby, here at betting.bet you’ll find everything from the latest team news and match insights to exclusive betting tips and the best pre-match odds from our partners at bet365.

Form

Pep Guardiola is currently overseeing the worst run of form in his entire managerial career. Manchester City have won just one of their last ten matches in all competitions and have fallen to fourth in the Premier League. Manchester City twice came from behind to salvage a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace last weekend before falling to a 2-0 UEFA Champions League defeat at Juventus in midweek.

Manchester United came from behind to win 2-1 at Viktoria Plzen in the UEFA Europa League but back-to-back league defeats leave the Red Devils languishing in 13th in the Premier League table. Manchester United’s most recent league game was a 3-2 loss at home to Nottingham Forest whilst they are winless in five away league games.

Team News

Rico Lewis’ red card at Crystal Palace will keep him out of Sunday’s Manchester derby and he’ll be joined on the sidelines by numerous injured Manchester City stars. Pep Guardiola will be without Rodri, Nathan Ake, John Stones and Manuel Akanji on Sunday afternoon.

Jonny Evans is a slight doubt for Manchester United whilst Luke Shaw is the only player certain to miss Sunday’s trip to the Etihad Stadium. Rasmus Hojlund should return to the Manchester United starting XI following his starring role from the bench in midweek.

Manchester City v Manchester United: Head-to-Head

Manchester City have been the dominant side in recent Premier League fixtures between these cross-city rivals. The blue half of Manchester have won five of the last six meetings in the Premier League including a 3-1 win in the corresponding fixture last season. Marcus Rashford had handed the visitors a half-time lead at the Etihad back in March but City bounced back through goals from Phil Foden (two) and Erling Haaland.

Betting Tips

Neither Manchester club look capable of winning a league game at the minute but they dare lose the derby. A draw looks inevitable at odds off 10/3. Manchester City have scored three or more goals in four of their last six matches in all competitions at the Etihad whilst Manchester United have not kept a clean sheet in any of their last six away matches. Over 2.5 match goals will prove a popular option at 4/9.

Rasmus Hojlund has scored three goals in Manchester United’s last two matches and if he starts on Sunday the Dane could prove the real value in the any time scorer market. Hojlund is 5/2 to score at any time at the Etihad.

Erling Haaland remains the obvious danger for Manchester City but he has scored just once in four matches in all competitions. As we look elsewhere for a possible goal scorer, there could be superb value in the Manchester City backline. Four of the last five league goals conceded by Manchester United were headers which makes the likes of Ruben Dias (11/1) and Josko Gvardiol (17/2) solid options to score at any time.

Match Odds