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#2 Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) vs Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes has been a key player for the team since his arrival at Old Trafford almost two years ago.
The midfield talisman has scored more goals (4) than his Manchester City counterpart Bernardo Silva (3) this season. He has also tallied more assists this campaign compared to his counterpart (3 to 1). Fernandes (2.7 per game) has takes more shots per game compared to Silva (1), and has also played more key passes (3.7 per game to 1.3) than the City player.
However, Silva has completed more dribbles per game (1.9) than Fernandes (0.8) this season. He has also made more tackles (1.7 per game to 1) and twice the interceptions (0.6 to 0.3) Fernandes has tallied this campaign.
Essentially, the two play very different roles for their teams. Fernandes' job is to look for attacking partners up front and hook them up with long balls. On the contrary, Silva looks to keep the ball flowing from back to front with the silky fluidity Pep Guardiola wants out of his team. Simply put, they are as different as apples and oranges, in terms of roles executed for their teams.
However, the performances of the two generally impact how their two teams generally fare. This will not be as direct a battle as the others on the list, but maybe the most important in terms of morale. That makes the duel between the two players an enticing one on Saturday.
#1 Pep Guardiola (Manchester City) vs Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Manchester United)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is one of a handful of managers to have a winning record against Manchester City's Pep Guardiola. In eight games against Guardiola, the Manchester United tactician has won four and lost three.
Solskjaer has always had a history of coming good in big, crunch matches. That is especially the case when he has his neck on the line, as evidenced in the game against Tottenham Hotspur. Despite the Spurs win, the Norwegian is still not out of the woods.
Meanwhile, Guardiola is one of the greatest managers of all time and maybe the greatest tactician too. But he tends to overdo things, overthinking opponents and setting up far more complications than necessary. Perhaps, that explains his losing record against Solskjaer.
Both United and City are pretty evenly matched in resources and motive. So it remains to be seen which man comes out trumps on Saturday in what could be an enticing tactical battle.
