The English Premier League returned on Thursday night following a jam-packed week of the FA Cup and Carabao Cup action.
Football lovers will be beguiled by the much-anticipated Manchester derby, which will see Pep Guardiola’s charges travel to Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon in what will be a battle for bragging rights against Erik Ten Hag’s side.
Manchester United have been on a good run of form since the return from the World Cup in December, with Ten Hag’s side winning seven games in a row in all competitions.
The former Ajax manager will be relying highly on Marcus Rashford to continue his goal-scoring run this season, when they welcome their noisy neighbours at the Theatre of Dreams.
Rashford has been praised for his recent form, contributing 15 goals and six assists so far for his side, three times as many as he contributed in the last campaign.
City were stunned following a shock defeat in the Carabao Cup quarter-final to bottom-of-the-log Southampton on Wednesday night, which led to Guardiola admitting that his side will fall short if they display the same performance against United.
“Of course, if we perform this way [against United], we don’t have a chance,” said Guardiola after the loss against Southampton.
“The best team won, they were better. We had a bad night, they played well. We had a bad start. They performed well. We have to deserve it, I want to deserve it and today was not the case. Southampton deserve to be in the semi-final of this competition.
“When you are not prepared to play this game, you arrive one inch late and don’t score a goal. When you are prepared, you score a goal.
“It was a bad night. I know them quite well. We didn’t get close to what we are. They were better, we congratulate them and accept it.”
The last meeting between the two English giants was a nine-goal thriller, with the Citizens beating the Red Devils 6-3 at the Etihad Stadium in October 2022.
Norwegian goal machine Erling Haaland scored a hattrick in the reverse fixture and will be one of the players to watch, having already banged in 21 goals – two goals shy from equaling last season’s joint top goal scorers, Mohamed Salah and Heung-Min Son.
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