Some of the extremely anticipated fixtures within the Premier League calendar pits Manchester Metropolis and Manchester United in opposition to one another in a high-stakes Premier League fixture on Sunday late afternoon.
The primary version of the well-known Manchester derby in 2024/25 has all of the makings of a sport of desperation and decline, with either side in dire want of factors after disastrous respective runs.
Contrasting European fortunes
A fifth consecutive top-flight title is a pipe dream for Pep Guardiola’s perennial champions regardless of lagging eight factors behind pacesetters Liverpool heading into the festive interval.
Juventus’ comfy 2-0 dwelling win in midweek UEFA Champions League motion added insult to damage, condemning the Cityzens to a seventh defeat of their final ten outings in all competitions.
Now caught solely a degree away from twenty fifth Paris Saint-Germain within the 36-team desk, Guardiola’s costs face an imminent danger of exiting the competitors within the league/group section for the primary time since 2012/13.
Man Utd had higher fortunes of their UEFA Europa League conflict in opposition to Viktoria Plzen, overhauling a second-half deficit to put up a 2-1 triumph on the Doosan Area.
Rasmus Hojlund’s double past the hour-mark handed new boss Ruben Amorim a well timed confidence increase after back-to-back league defeats to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.
Whereas attempting to restore the injury left in Erik ten Hag’s wake, Amorim works on strengthening his squad.
Cerro Porteno left-back Diego Leon will be part of Man Utd subsequent summer time after reaching a verbal settlement earlier on Friday.
Wracked ship
Seven defeats of their final ten matches are as many as Man Metropolis had of their 105 earlier fixtures mixed, highlighting the severity of the disaster on the Etihad Stadium.
Regardless of enduring the worst sequence in his illustrious managerial profession, Guardiola has overseen only one defeat in 11 aggressive video games this season (W7, D3).
The 53-year-old tried to settle followers’ nerves within the build-up, insisting Metropolis’s ‘soul and spirits are there.’
Nevertheless, the truth paints a bleak image, with Man Metropolis (21) conceding extra targets than some other group throughout Europe’s conventional top-five leagues because the starting of November.
Man Metropolis’s solely clear sheet in that interval got here on dwelling turf final midweek. They put Forest to the sword in a landslide 3-0 victory, solely to attract 2-2 at long-term strugglers Crystal Palace three days later.
Peaks and valleys
Within the span of three days, Forest went from being thrashed on the Etihad to securing a shocking victory at Outdated Trafford, leaving Man Utd on the point of three successive league defeats for the primary time since 2015.
Amorim’s costs responded kindly within the Czech Republic on Thursday, making the ex-Sporting CP boss solely the third Crimson Devils supervisor to win their first two European video games in cost.
Nonetheless, it feels prefer it’s ‘one step ahead, two steps again’ for the 39-year-old.
He was unlucky sufficient to be within the dugout for United’s first set of 4 consecutive league losses by the hands of Arsenal a fortnight in the past.
Extra undesirable historical past sits across the nook, with Man Utd staring down the barrel of a fourth away league defeat at Man Metropolis in a row for the primary time since 1955.
Blended indicators
Hojlund’s heroics at Plzen helped the Crimson Devils arrest an underwhelming seven-game winless run on hostile turf and report their first away victory since mid-September.
Underperforming in highway Premier League motion has turn into a trait synonymous with Man Utd this season, as they’ve solely received as soon as in seven away league matches (D3, L3).
Amorim didn’t beat newcomers Ipswich City on his touchline debut regardless of taking an early lead via Marcus Rashford, extending United’s winless away league streak to 5 video games.
Snapping that humiliating run on the Etihad may very well be a season-defining second for the Portuguese tactician, who already defeated Man Metropolis along with his former membership earlier this season.
His Sporting aspect swept the Cityzens apart in a outstanding 4-1 triumph within the Champions League, providing him an opportunity to make historical past this weekend.
Certainly, he might turn into solely the second supervisor to beat the defending Premier League champions with totally different groups in the identical season.
