2 reasons why Manchester City are the favourites to win against Manchester United in Premier League on Sunday

Manchester United will face Manchester City in a crucial Premier League match at Old Trafford next Sunday, Oct. 29. The Cityzens are second in the league table with 21 points from nine matches, while United are eighth with 15 points from the same number of matches.

The difference in points between the two teams might not seem to be too big at the moment and Manchester United will have the chance to reduce it to three points by winning the Manchester Derby on Sunday.

However, they should find it considerably difficult, as Manchester City have dominated the rivalry in recent times.

Pep Guardiola's team beat Young Boys convincingly in their last match in the UEFA Champions League, while Erik ten Hag's men had to toil hard for an unconvincing 1-0 win over FC Copenhagen, as Andre Onana saved a penalty to secure three points for his team.

In this article, we will have a look at why Manchester City are the favourites to win on Sunday:

#2. The ineptness of Manchester United’s forwards:

United’s forwards have had an indifferent season so far, with Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Hojlund, Antony and Alejandro Garnacho having scored five goals between them.

In comparison, Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez have scored 18 goals between them so far, which makes the difference quite a big one.

Most of the opposition teams seem to have been able to nullify the counter-attacking threat posed by Rashford with his runs through the inside-left channel.

Hence, United have often had to depend on the likes of Diogo Dalot and Harry Maguire to score winning goals for them against Sheffield United and FC Copenhagen, respectively.

With almost a quarter of the season over, Casemiro still remains Manchester United’s top goal-scorer this season with four goals to his name. It is very unlikely that United’s forwards will come up with something extraordinary against City’s compact defence on Sunday.

#1. Manchester City having too much quality in midfield and on the flanks:

It remains to be seen as to which starting formation is chosen by Pep Guardiola on Sunday. Should he decide to go with a 3-2-2-3, it will mean that Rodri and John Stones will play in the double pivot and Phil Foden and Alvarez will be ahead of them as attacking midfielders.

Jeremy Doku, who has been really impressive as the left winger, Bernardo Silva and Haaland will form a three-man forward line that is capable of breaching almost any defence in the world.

United’s full-backs, Diogo Dalot and Sergio Reguilon, are likely to have their hands full and will need a good amount of help from Sofyan Amrabat and Casemiro.

Should Scott McTominay start instead of Amrabat, United will have another potential goal-scorer in their line-up. However, it will also somewhat weaken them defensively

Even then, it seems very unlikely that United will be able to fend the pressure on their defence, and the chances of them keeping a clean sheet will be very low. City are likely to dominate ball-possession and United might only be able to threaten through counter-attacks.