Manchester City vs Manchester United Betting Preview

Kick-off: Thursday, April 27 @8:00 PM GMT

Venue: Etihad Stadium (Manchester)

Head to head record

Manchester United vs Manchester City 1-0 (2016/2017 League Cup)
Manchester United vs Manchester City 1-2 (2016/2017 Premier League)
Manchester City vs Manchester United 0-1 (2015/2016 Premier League)
Manchester United vs Manchester City 0-0 (2015/2016 Premier League)
Manchester United vs Manchester City 4-2 (2014/2015 Premier League)

Manchester City vs Manchester United prediction

Etihad Stadium will host Thursday’s Manchester derby between Manchester City and Manchester United. Both teams are eyeing a place in the Champions league, meaning that a lively contest appears on the horizon.

Heartbreaking FA Cup loss

Despite being regarded as favorites to beat Arsenal in the FA Cup semis at the weekend, Manchester City suffered a shocking loss to Arsene Wenger’s troops at Wembley Stadium. The Citizens are eager to get back on course and they are likely to leave their hearts on the field in Thursday’s local derby against Manchester United. As things stand now, Pep Guardiola is not going to win a trophy with Man City this season, but the Etihad Stadium outfit have good chance of booking their place in the Champions League. The Citizens occupy fourth position in the Premier League standings ahead of the Manchester derby and a victory over Jose Mourinho’s troops would see them move one step closer to securing a top-four finish. Kun Aguero found the net in the FA Cup defeat to Arsenal and seeing that the Argentine striker has been in a fine form of late, the opposition defenders should have him at bay.

Bakary Sagna and Ilkay Gundogan are both sidelined with injury, while the likes of David Silva, Fernandinho and Sergio Aguero should be fit to face Manchester United at Etihad Stadium.

No Ibra, no problem

Thanks to a 2-0 win at Burnley Manchester United extended their winning run in the Premier League to three games. The Red Devils have been in a splendid form of late and in Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s absence (injury) Wayne Rooney led the English giants to the triumph over Sean Dyche’s team. Jose Mourinho’s men sit in fifth place in the Premier League standings, but it has to be noted that they have two games in hand. Considering that third-placed Liverpool are only three points clear of Man Utd in the table, the Red Devils are definitely capable of finishing the season in top four. Thursday’s clash against Manchester City, though, will be anything but a walk in the park for the visitors and, no doubt, they would be happy with one point from the local derby. Jose Mourinho’s charges managed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last three league fixtures and they are likely to rely on their rock-solid defense in the Manchester derby.

The likes of Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Chris Smalling, Juan Mata and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are all sidelined with injury, but Paul Pogba should recover in time to face Manchester City at Etihad Stadium.

Interesting facts

• Man Utd are eyeing their fourth straight clean sheet in Premier League
• Man City are undefeated in last eight home games in the league
• Under 1.5 goals were scored in three of their last four meetings in the PL
• Red Devils scored 2+ goals in each of their last four away games in the league
• Kun Aguero has netted 17 goals in the league so far this term

Manchester City vs Manchester United betting pick

The two local rivals seem to be evenly matched at the moment, but both teams are likely to go for a win in Thursday’s showdown. However, seeing that Man Utd top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic misses the game with injury and considering that under 1.5 goals were netted in previous three encounters between the two sides, a low-scoring affair is on the cards.

Pick: Under 2.5 goals

Odds: 1/1