Man City vs. Man U
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Kick off: 4:30
The standout fixture of Premier League gameweek 12 comes at the Etihad Stadium when leaders and champions Manchester City host local rivals Manchester United.
Nine points already separate the two sides ahead of the derby, but both go into the match off the back of memorable European victories in midweek.
Pep Guardiola will have always been expecting a more competitive title race this season after they finished 19 points clear of today’s opponents last term, but even he would not have foreseen three teams still being unbeaten after 11 games of the campaign.
Even with the good form of Chelsea and Liverpool – both of whom have dropped just six points so far – City continue to set the pace and go into the weekend sitting two points clear of the chasing pack at the top of the table.
Those behind them may have improved this season, but worryingly for the rest of the league it also appears as though City themselves could be even more dangerous than the record-breaking centurions of 2017-18.
Guardiola’s side have delivered emphatic statements of intent both at home and abroad over the past seven days, scoring six goals in consecutive games for the first time in 31 years en route to routs over Southampton and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Wednesday’s 6-0 win against Shakhtar was City’s biggest ever victory in the Champions League and reinforced their status as favourites for not only domestic glory, but also to be crowned European champions for the first time in their history.
Thoughts of silverware will never be far from the minds of such a successful team, but the reality of getting their hands on it is still some way away and Guardiola will be the first to ensure that his side are fully focused on each and every game as it comes – particularly in the very fixture which saw their title celebrations delayed towards the end of last season.
It is difficult to see any team stopping City on current form, though; Guardiola’s side have won 10 of their last 11 games across all competitions, scoring 35 goals and conceding just two in that time.
The champions are also unbeaten in their last 53 top-flight matches against teams who began the day outside the top four – a run which includes 44 wins and stretches back to January 2017.
At home City are an even more daunting proposition, taking 25 points from a possible 27 and scoring 32 goals while conceding four since their defeat to United at the Etihad in April, when the Red Devils came from 2-0 down to win 3-2.
That result will no doubt still irk Guardiola – who could lose consecutive home league games against a single opponent for the first time in his managerial career this weekend – but since conceding three second-half goals in that match City have let in just one after the interval in their subsequent 18 league outings.
Such an impressive record could be tested against a team who have specialised in second-half shows of late, although City could well be out of sight by half time if United’s recent pattern of performances continues this afternoon.
Man City possible XI: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Laporte, Mendy, Bernardo, Fernandinho, Silva, Sterling, Aguero, Sane.
Man United possible XI: De Gea, Young, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw, Herrera, Matic, Pogba, Sanchez, Lukaku, Martial.