Red or Blue Manchester this weekend?
Man Utd host their city rivals this weekend in the Manchester derby, with Man City odds favourites at 1.95. It’s been a tough season for both Manchester teams, with the Red Devils in 7th place and Man City six points behind Arsenal after 21 matches played. While Man Utd, under new interim manager Michael Carrick, are hoping to rejuvenate their hopes of European football, Man City are looking to put some pressure on Arsenal with a win here. Let’s take a look at Saturday’s big match!
Man Utd – Man City
Old Trafford, Saturday @ 13:30 CET
Man Utd
Man Utd have become notoriously unpredictable, something which their record in the league confirms: 8-8-5. Having only won 8 out of 21 matches means Man Utd are currently sitting in 7th position in the league. Maybe even more disconcerting is their home statistics in the league this season, with only 5 wins in 10 home matches (5-3-2) . In those 10 home matches, they have conceded 13 goals, which doesn’t bode too well ahead of tomorrow’s big fixture.
Man Utd are currently at 6.00 to finish top 4, and a win this weekend will see them put some pressure on the teams directly ahead of them, namely Newcastle, Brentford and Liverpool.
In terms of absences from the squad, Mazraoui is still on international duty in Morocco, preparing for the final against Senegal, while de Ligt is out with an injury and Lacey is suspended. Both Diallo and Mbeumo are back from Morocco, though, giving Michael Carrick some options when picking out his first starting eleven since returning to the club.
Carrick is expected to start with 4 players in defense ahead of Lammens, with Yoro, Martinez and Maguire all hoping to get the nod, and Shaw and Dalot likely to start on the fullbacks. Bruno Fernandes has been brilliant at creating chances as usual this season, racking up 8 assists so far. His expected assists is at 5.07. The odds on the Portuguese midfielder getting an assist against Man City is currently at 5.00.
Man Utd to win the 1st half is at 3.75, with Cunha and Mbeumo both at 8.50 to score the first goal of the match.
Man City
Is hasn’t just been clear blue skies at Man City this season either, with Pep’s team six points behind league leaders Arsenal after 21 matches of the season played. Only 13 wins from 21 matches isn’t quite what the Man City supporters are used to, but despite a few hick-ups, they’re still hopeful of catching up to Arsenal before the final matchday on May 24. They’re at 13–4-4 this season, and away from home they’ve won 5 of their 10 matches, with 2 ending in a draw.
Man City are currently at 4.50 to win the league this season, and 1.19 to be in the top 2. Losing or drawing tomorrow means Arsenal have another great chance at increasing the gap when they visit Nottingham Forest early in the evening later on Saturday.
Pep’s team have actually not won a league match so far this year, with all their 3 PL fixtures until now in 2026 ending in a draw. They won 2-0 away at Newcastle in the 1st leg of the League Cup semi-final however, and will be hoping to take their goalscoring form from their 10-1 win against Exeter into this weekend’s big fixture. Cherki, with 7 assists so far in the league, will be hoping to add to that tomorrow.
Marmoush is still away on international duty, while Gvardiol, Dias, Savinho, Kovacic and Stones are out with injuries.
Man City to win the 1st half is at 2.42, with Semenyo at 6.50 to score the first goal of the match.
An early Manchester derby is the perfect start to the weekend, and our prediction is a draw at 4.05. Don’t forget that we also have Early Payout on this match, which you can read more about here.
Last Updated: 16.01.2026
Odds might have changed since the writing and/or publication of this article.
