United, City Divide Manchester in 186th Derby

Manchester United will be craving to build on their 3-0 win over Tottenham last weekend as they go head-to-head against their bitter rival-Manchester City in the season’s first derby game. Pep Guardiola’s men surprisingly lost at home 2-0 against Crystal Palace last Saturday and would be hoping to bounce back with today’s visit to Old Trafford. With Cristiano Ronaldo having found his scoring boots-three goals in two matches, the Citizens back line have to be at alert for 90 minutes for a chance to take something back to the Etihad

Old Trafford plays host to a highly-anticipated Premier League derby today, as Manchester United welcome Manchester City to the Theatre of Dreams.
Two places and three points separate the bitter rivals in the table at present, with one manager certainly under more pressure than his counterpart this week.
One can only begin to imagine what failure to beat Tottenham Hotspur would have meant for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s time in the dugout, with the Norwegian desperately seeking a response from his side’s utter humiliation at the hands of Liverpool.

However, in a game which would ultimately cost his opposite number Nuno Espirito Santo his job, United prevailed comfortably in North London, as strikes from Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani and Marcus Rashford set the Red Devils on their way to a 3-0 win.

There were no prizes for guessing who saved Solskjaer’s bacon in the Champions League against Atalanta in midweek either, as Ronaldo cancelled out strikes from Josip Ilicic and Duvan Zapata to rescue a point for this side ahead of today’s derby.
Having managed to pull themselves out of their rut, at least for now with victory at Spurs, Man United are hanging on to their fifth-placed position in the table after 10 matches, but Arsenal are now only behind Solskjaer’s men on goal difference.

Worryingly for the Old Trafford faithful, United have taken just one point from their last three home games in the Premier League – scoring a solitary goal in that miserable streak – and not since April’s win over Granada have the Red Devils crowd seen their side keep a clean sheet on familiar territory.
One game involving the Manchester clubs last weekend was expected to be a walkover, while the other was tipped to be a tight affair between two managers under immense pressure to deliver a result.

However, Crystal Palace ripped up the form book to come away from the Etihad with all three points to show for it, as Wilfried Zaha and Conor Gallagher struck either side of Aymeric Laporte’s red card in a memorable 2-0 win for the Eagles.
The reigning Premier League champions were dealt another early blow in their pursuit of a sixth crown in the competition, but Pep Guardiola’s side responded in ideal fashion against Club Brugge in the Champions League, easing to a 4-1 win.

Having seen their eight-game unbeaten run in the top flight come to a bitter end, third-placed City are now five points adrift of leaders, Chelsea after 10 matches, but they have taken 10 points from the last 12 on offer away from home in the Premier League.

Despite posting two EFL Cup wins against their rivals in recent years, City are winless in four Premier League Manchester derbies – failing to score in any of their last three – but not many United fans will be placing bets on their side’s hot streak continuing today.

Meanwhile, Antonio Conte’s first Premier League game in charge of Tottenham Hotspur takes place on Sunday afternoon, with Everton lying in wait at Goodison Park.
While Spurs enter the game on the back of a 3-2 Europa Conference League win over Vitesse, the Toffees are seeking to end a run of three straight Premier League defeats.

The Rafael Benitez reign has lost a good chunk of momentum in recent weeks, with Wolverhampton Wanderers inflicting a third consecutive defeat on the Toffees during Monday night’s encounter at Molineux.

Max Kilman and Raul Jimenez’s quickfire strikes saw Wolves race into a two-goal lead before the break, and while Alex Iwobi halved the deficit with 25 minutes to go, Wolves withstood the Merseyside pressure to condemn Everton to another dampening loss.
Defeat in the West Midlands followed previous zero-pointers with Watford and West Ham United for the under-performing Toffees, who have now dropped to 10th in the rankings after winning just one of their last six in the top flight.

October’s 5-2 humbling at the hands of Watford represented Everton’s ninth league defeat of the calendar year at Goodison Park – not since 1993 has that record stretched into the double figures – but their record against the Lilywhites makes for bleak reading for the home crowd.

The Toffees did march to a 1-0 win over Tottenham in the capital last season, but that triumph represents their only victory from their last 17 Premier League games against Spurs, who have gone unbeaten in their last eight top-flight games at Goodison Park.
The Italian’s three-at-the-back system appeared to be working wonders against Vitesse as Son Heung-min, Lucas Moura and an own goal from Jacob Rasmussen saw Spurs race into a three-goal lead before the 30-minute mark.

However, the Dutch outfit would return fire with Rasmussen at the correct end of the pitch before Matus Bero scored the game’s fifth goal before half time, and after a frenetic second half saw three red cards brandished, Conte’s side ultimately held on.
It was far from an ideal way for the Premier League and Serie A-winning coach to open his account for Spurs, but a victory on his debut cannot be sniffed at as the Italian prepares to return to hostile away territory in English football.

After the Lilywhites capitulated against Manchester United under Santo, Conte takes over with his side sat ninth on the table – which could change after today’s games and they sit just one point and one place above Everton ahead of this clash.
Spurs suffered three defeats from their last four Premier League games of the Santo era – conceding nine goals in that miserable run – but Conte knows a thing or two about shutting up shop in this fixture, with his former Chelsea side not conceding once against Everton under his tutelage.