The Man City issue overshadows United’s woes before the game
At the beginning of the Premier League season, it would have seemed unthinkable that Pep Guardiola’s City would be dealing with a crisis so severe that it would divert focus away from United’s problems by the time the Manchester derby came around.
It has taken a lot of work. After all, United placed 13th in the table under new manager Ruben Amorim, fired manager Erik ten Hag in October, and fired sports director Dan Ashworth last week after only five months.
The magnitude of the challenge Amorim confronts at Old Trafford was shown by United’s 3-2 home loss to Nottingham Forest last weekend.
However, the primary topic of conversation leading up to Sunday’s match at The Etihad Stadium is City’s collapse.
Guardiola’s team is in risk of a humiliating Champions League elimination, sits fourth in the Premier League, eight points behind leaders Liverpool, and has only won once in their previous ten games across all competitions.
Following City’s 2-0 loss to Juventus on Wednesday, some commentators declared the end of Guardiola’s heyday due to the team’s lack of confidence and many injuries to important players.
“This is simply the worst Pep Guardiola team we have ever seen. Rio Ferdinand, a former Manchester United defender, stated that he must find a method to inspire this squad and restore some form and confidence. “They are under real pressure now.”
However, everything is relative. City has won the Premier League seven times since United’s previous victory in 2013, including the last four when Guardiola was in charge.
With a two-year contract deal in hand, Guardiola is unlikely to be let go anytime soon, and City still has a team full of repeat winners.
However, the Spaniard is not impervious to criticism, and City supporters will call for things to resume as normal, beginning with Sunday’s visit from United.
Naturally, I have self-doubt at both happy and unhappy times. After his team’s loss in Turin placed them in 22nd position in the 36-team Champions League group, Guardiola declared, “I was stable in the good moments and I’m stable in the bad moments.”
Backlash in the City
United will be cautious about facing a City reaction since they have let up 13 goals in their past three Premier League trips to their local rivals.
However, they did defeat them in the FA Cup final the previous year, and they will think they can capitalize on City’s recent weakness, since they have let up 21 goals in all competitions since the beginning of November—more than any other team in the top five leagues in Europe.
Liverpool will play their first Premier League match on Saturday at home against Fulham before City and United try to regain lost prestige on Sunday.
Despite having played one extra game, second-place Chelsea was able to cut the Reds’ lead to four points when the Merseyside derby was postponed due to bad weather last week.
Despite a performance that did not satisfy the Dutch coach, Arne Slot’s Liverpool team defeated Girona 1-0 on Tuesday to keep their perfect Champions League record.
Slot has already established extremely high expectations, so Fulham will probably have a hard afternoon at Anfield.
Despite missing the majority of their starting lineup for their 16-hour round journey to Kazakhstan this week, Chelsea will visit Brentford on Sunday in a match that is sure to be goal-filled as the two teams have already combined for 66 goals this season.
Before Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa, who are now in fifth and sixth place, play each other on Saturday, third-place Arsenal, who are six points behind Liverpool, will visit Everton.
