Manchester United hosts Manchester City in the English EFL Cup semifinals. The match will be played on Tuesday, January 7th at Old Trafford (Manchester)
Over the past 10 months of the Norwegian reign at the Theater of Dreams, the Red Devils have been plagued by ups and downs: there is no stability after the chic streak called the shake effect after Mourinho’s dismissal. Yes, Solskjaer beat Jose and Pep in two December matches in a row. However, the Devils lost to Watford just a couple of weeks later (2:0). After the inquisition of the defense formations of Newcastle and Burnley, Man United suffered a dry defeat to Arsenal (2:0), which was headed by a friend and fellow-thinker of Guardiola, Arteta. Of course, the status of a derby will force Solkskjaer to field Rashford, but the midfield of Manchester United seems very limited without Pogba and Mctominay. Fred, who rested on the weekend, will also return to the lineup, and Bre may replace Shaw on the flank, but can Solskjaer beat Guardiola tactically again? I think no. The Spaniard always makes a very good correction of errors. However, they have already been fixed in the course of a recent meeting at Etihad. The Citizens were unlucky a bit: United showed perfect starting 30 minutes of the game but barely resisted in the remaining 70. The metrics of xG, suggesting the victory of the Citizens with a mirror score, eloquently speak about this.
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In the last match against Port Vale in the FA Cup (4:1), Guardiola freshened the lineup with Stones and David Silva, who recovered after injuries, as well as with young Harwood, Angelino, Zinchenko, and Bernardo who had not played against the Toffees. This means that all the main characters of Pep will certainly appear in the derby: in the defense - Fernandinho with Garcia and Walker. In the midfield - De Bruyne, which is the best in the company of different options: both Silvas, Gundogan or Rodry. Foden, who played in two games, will give up the flank to amazing Sterling. Pep has options to field Jesus instead of Aguero, but both forwards, who are in excellent shape, may appear in the first eleven: the Argentine scored in each of two matches after recovery, and the Brazilian scored a double to the net of Everton and aggrieved Leicester.
After the City’s infirmary became almost empty, Guardiola will not notice the long-term absence of Laporte and Sane. Perhaps this does not guarantee that the new experimental defense won’t make mistakes, but the Spaniard has a very good bench and the competent use of rotations. The Citizens will approach the derby with the strongest and fresh squad, and they will be motivated to take revenge. The destructiveness of their attack involves a couple of goals at the net of Manchester United, even unilaterally. I think I won’t make a mistake if I propose betting on the Citizens’ victory and Over 1.5 goals scored.
Prediction for the match: Manchester City to win and Over 1.5 goals scored
