ENGLISH PREMIER BETTING PREVIEW - MANCHESTER UNITED VS MANCHESTER CITY

English Premier

2026-01-17 - Manchester United vs Manchester City

A Sports Betting Preview by Auls

Manchester United v Manchester City
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 17th January 2025 - Kick Off 12:30pm
This game is live on TV

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Manchester United

The Ruben Amorim era came to an end earlier this month after a bust up with upper management and the lack of direction Manchester United are travelling has concerned all who love the club. Once again an interim has been asked to come in and guide the team through the second half of the season and it is Michael Carrick who returns to Old Trafford in a role he held for a short period before moving on to manage Middlesbrough.

A number of new Coaches have also arrived along with Carrick, but the FA Cup defeat last weekend means Manchester United will be completing the shortest season in terms of games for over 100 years. Despite that, they will be going into this weekend in 7th place in the Premier League table and just 3 points behind Liverpool in the top four as Manchester United bid to return to the Champions League and earn the financial boost that competition will provide.

Manchester United have won 1 of the last 7 games played in all competitions and have drawn at Burnley and been beaten by Brighton since Ruben Amorim's departure. The side had been unbeaten in 4 at Old Trafford before the loss to Brighton, but that result also means Manchester United have won 1 of the last 6 played in front of the home fans.

Both Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo are now back in Manchester after playing for Ivory Coast and Cameroon in the African Cup of Nations. Matthijs de Ligt continues to miss time with an undisclosed injury.

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola was far from happy with some of the officiating, especially a controversial VAR intervention, on Tuesday night, but Manchester City's 0-2 win at Newcastle United means they have one foot in the League Cup Final. Now the attention turns to the Premier League as Manchester City look to put some pressure on leaders Arsenal who are travelling to the East Midlands later in the day.

There are 6 points between Manchester City and Arsenal in the Premier League standings, but the former may feel they have dodged a bullet considering the run of draws put together. With 17 League games left, Manchester City will know they need to be more consistent away from home if they are going to close that gap. They make a short journey across Manchester on Saturday morning with a 5-2-3 away record in the top flight this season.

Manchester City are now unbeaten in 13 games in all competitions and they have won 10 of those fixtures, although the last 3 Premier League games have all ended in draws. The side have won 5 of the last 6 away games in all competitions, but were held to a goalless draw in the last away League game at Sunderland on New Year's Day.

Omar Marmoush should be back in Manchester in the next few days, but will miss out. There are plenty of attacking options for Pep Guardiola this weekend, but his defence remains stretched, although Rayan Ait-Nouri was available on Tuesday night.

Head to Head

Manchester City were comfortable 3-0 home winners in the first derby of the season.

Last season the game at Old Trafford finished goalless, which means Manchester City have lost 1 of the last 6 games here since the world closed down for the Covid Pandemic.

Half of those matches have ended with the blue side of the city celebrating.

Prediction

Another new face will be in the dugout for Manchester United when they play the latest derby.

Michael Carrick is going to take charge for the rest of the season after Ruben Amorim's departure and will mean a new manager taking charge of Manchester United in four of the last five derby games played.

He will be looking for a 'new manager bounce' to help get Manchester United turned back around and a couple of key attackers returning from the African Cup of Nations is a boost. However, Manchester United's squad have looked like they are lacking some confidence after events that have taken place this month, even if they are firmly in the mix for the Champions League places come the end of the season.

There is no easing into things for Carrick who takes charge of the derby at Old Trafford before Manchester United face the League leaders in North London.

At least Manchester United have had a few more days of rest compared with Manchester City, who were beating Newcastle United at St James' Park on Tuesday night.

Pep Guardiola has raised issues with the officiating, just in time for the derby, but he will be very pleased with some of the attacking football his team are playing. Antoine Semenyo has arrived and transitioned seamlessly into the starting eleven, while most pleasing for Manchester City will be the clean sheet at St James' Park with an injury hit backline.

The attacking options will make sure Manchester City provide a threat throughout this fixture- even those coming on can make a big impact if needed and the away team are dangerous.

A run of 3 consecutive Premier League draws has slowed some of the momentum, but there are just 6 points between Manchester City and leaders Arsenal and a squad with plenty of experience is looking capable of fighting on four fronts.

In recent times, Manchester City have enjoyed facing Manchester United at Old Trafford with wins in half of the last 6 hosted by the red side of Manchester.

They have only lost once in that time, although Manchester United will provide a real threat on the counter attack.

The problem has been Manchester United are still struggling for balance between attack and defence and that is something that could be tough for Michael Carrick to address in a couple of days of training. He will go to four at the back in a system shake-up, but there are still some glaring problems with the starting eleven and that is something that Manchester City will feel they can expose with the attacking threats on the pitch.

It is Manchester City who have been creating a lot more opportunities in recent games and that may ultimately prove to be the difference in the last Manchester derby of the season.

The Pick :

Manchester United 1-2 Manchester City

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll suggest Manchester City to Win at 1.95 with Bet365 (early payout if a team is leading by two goals)