Sunday 15th December, 2024
Man City @ 8/13
Man Utd @ 15/4
Draw @ 7/2
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The Manchester Derby, for a very long time now, has been billed as a heavyweight clash; a seismic, passion-stuffed meet-up featuring at least one elite, Premier League superpower.
From 1991, for about two decades, Manchester United were very much the dominant force. In fact, the gap between the sides was so great during the late 90s – when whole divisions separated the sides – there were no derby games.
Then, Manchester City began to slowly haul themselves back towards the upper echelons; before overtaking and sprinting clear of their red rivals – ultimately creating a buffer zone of such width between the warring factions that it no longer mattered how loud the ‘noisy neighbours’ were…Manchester United wouldn’t be able to hear them.
Obviously, we are yet to reach the half-way stage of the 2024/25 campaign, but one would probably have to go back as far as the late 1980s to find a time when the mood was equally grim in both Mancunian camps immediately prior to a derby collision.
This weekend’s meeting – a 4:30pm kick-off on Sunday – could, then, be billed as ‘A Nightmare Before Christmas’.
Manchester City, quite suddenly and unexpectedly, have acquired a taste for that same brand of sweet, sweet decline that United have sipping for the last decade. But City are currently gulping the stuff down with Office-Christmas-Party-levels of abandon, and some of the resulting stats are hangover-inducing.
1 win in their last 10 games – a run which features 7 defeats – more goals conceded in all competitions than any other side in Europe’s top 5 divisions this season, including 9 in their last 3 Champions League ties.
Wednesday night’s away slump against Juventus may not have sounded too disastrous, but the current incarnation of the Old Lady is far from vintage; the Turin side were enduring a winless streak of their own heading into the game, and currently lie 6th in Serie A.
But when bad results occur, confidence plummets, and games are approached with the expectation that things will probably go wrong. And, consequently, they do. The decisive millimetres and tiny pitch bobbles that once influenced kind rebounds are now no longer your friends.
Aside from bad luck, there are some issues for which the blame can be attributed. The decision to allow Cole Palmer to leave looks worse every week: his creative skills alone could have helped fill the current – soon to be permanent? – gaping Kevin de Bruyne-shaped void. And to sell Julián Alvarez (12 goals for Atletico Madrid so far this season) without ensnaring a replacement of similar stature has only exacerbated the matter.
It will be fascinating to see what the Manchester City squad looks like in 12 months’ time. But can it be sufficiently jump-started to see them through this weekend without suffering more impactful bruises?
Manchester United may not be in a worse position than they were a few months ago…but they aren’t exactly in a better one either. Thursday night’s narrow Europa League triumph over Viktoria Plzen taught us no new lessons – this is still a side that is a long way from being a threat to Premier League glory.
Going into Sunday, the fact that Ruben Amorim has overseen a recent win over Manchester City – albeit with Sporting Lisbon – gives United fans hope that their on-pitch issues are surmountable, and that they can potentially leave The Etihad with something in their pockets.
But the off-pitch Old Trafford puzzle remains frustratingly unresolved. Heralded as a crucial ‘fixer’, newly appointed sporting director, Dan Ashworth, has gone before the ink on fans’ celebratory thigh tattoos has even begun to dry.
The real victory this weekend, then, is in which troubled flank of Manchester can find long-term answers to their respective, deeply profound problems.
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