Manchester City will travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the season’s first Manchester Derby in the English Premier League. The hosts go three points behind their city rivals in this game.
Manchester United have earned 17 points, and the team sits fifth in the league table. The Red Devils have scored 19 goals and conceded 15 goals and enter this match after a convincing 3-0 victory over Spurs. That victory ended a poor run of three losses and one draw. The above viz is the shot map of the previous game. The goals were scored from inside the opposition’s box and ten shots were attempted on target. 23 positional attacks were created and the xG rate of the team was 1.44.
The Red Devils have created an xG rate of 16.74 and scored 19 goals. The team averages five counterattacks per game and have attempted 153 shots till now. The average is 15 shots per game and 53 shots have been on target.
Cristiano Ronaldo has made a lot of influence since joining the club. The Portuguese player has made five-goal contributions in seven games. These include four goals and one assist. Ronaldo has attempted 27 shots with an accuracy rate of 37%. His fellow countryman, Bruno Fernandes, is also in form. He provided three assists last month and has already scored four goals in the season.
Manchester United will miss Paul Pogba due to suspension. Raphael Varane is another absentee after he was substituted in the 2-2 draw away at Atalanta in the UEFA Champions League. Victor Lindelof is still a doubt, and the team will assess his situation before the match.
Manchester City suffered a shocking 0-2 defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace. Manchester City was trailing 0-1 inside the first five minutes and a red card to defender Aymeric Laporte towards the end of the first half meant that City played the second half with ten men.
The Citizens, who are ranked third, are five points behind league leaders Chelsea. Pep’s men have scored 20 goals with an xG rate of 21.46. Manchester City have created the most number of positional attacks in the league, and 109 shots have been attempted with these positional attacks. A total of 167 shots have been attempted, with an average of more than 16 shots per match. 58 shots have been on target, and 48 shots out of these have been attempted from inside the opposition’s box. Manchester City players have taken the most number of touches in the opposition’s box and average 36 touches per game.
Manchester City have one of the best defense this season. They have the lowest expected goal against rate in the division. Pep’s men have conceded six goals, three more than Chelsea, who have conceded the fewest goals in the league. Manchester City’s defense has kept six clean sheets so far.
Gabriel Jesus has made the highest goal contributions for the visitors. The Brazilian has scored two goals and provided five assists. Phil Foden has shown some form in the recent games and has scored three goals with one assist in six appearances. Aymeric Laporte will miss the match due to suspension.
Manchester United won the last fixture when the two teams met in the 2020-21 season by a 2-0 scoreline. Manchester City will look to bring their season back on track and try to earn all three points. The match could feature goals, and plenty of action is expected from this fixture.
