Manchester United to Beat City in Sunday’s Premier League Derby

United supporters didn’t enjoy themselves watching the recent matches between these two teams, but this could be their day.

In-form Manchester United hosts local rival Manchester City on Sunday in a contest which was a depressing one for the Red Devils in recent years. But now Louis van Gaal’s side could feel that time had arrived to bring back the old days when United dominated the Manchester derby.

• United are favourites to win
• Van Gaal found his formation
• Big trouble for City

In the last round the two teams swapped places on the table which came after United were on the up for weeks while City completely lost their form as they have been struggling since January. However, the position of Manuel Pellegrini, City’s Chilean manager, seems to be safe according to UK gambling news.

Only Arsenal does better than United

If we have a look at the form sheet of the Premier League teams as well as the side’s performances in recent weeks we can see instantly that second-placed Arsenal might be the best team in England at the moment. But Man United is right behind the Gunners winning five from their last six competitive outings – their only defeat in that period came against Arsenal actually, in the quarter finals of the FA Cup roughly a month ago.

Moreover Rooney and co are not just winning their games, they do it in such a convincing fashion that was completely unknown for the audience of the internet betting in UK since the day that saw Sir Alex Ferguson sitting on the United bench for the last time in 2013. In the middle of march they swept Tottenham aside in the first half, then a week later they controlled the game at Anfield in a way that very few teams are able to do against Brendan Rodger’s ball-loving sons.

Fellaini in a strange role

It seems that Van Gaal found his long-sought formation with the creative Juan Mata drifting inside from the right, young Spaniard Ander Herrera being the link between defence and attack, Wayne Rooney up front and Marouane Fellaini behind him. In fact, the role of the tall Belgian sporting the funny afro is a very unique challenge for defenders as he attacks the in-swinging balls from a deep position.

This could be a major problem for City defenders at Old Trafford this weekend in itself, but looking at United in general, the whole encounter seems to go in favour of the Red Devils this time. That would contrast the trend that arose three years ago when the Sky Blues started to dominate one of the UK mobile betting’s favourite fixture completely which was a pretty even one at the start of the 2010s.

City won six from their last eight matches against United in all competitions, defeating their neighbours in all of the last four outings in the league with a 10-2 margin in total. Man United’s last victory against the Citizens came in December 2012 when Robin van Persie provided the winner in the 92nd minute at Etihad Stadium after City fought back from a two-goal deficit.

There is an ongoing debate between fans and pundits about wheter to sell Van Persie or not and the topic is a popular one at Online sportsbooks in UK as well. Reading the papers the argument seems to be going in favour of the sellers, but the Dutchman who might return after a foot injury, has proven before the 2014 FIFA World Cup with the Dutch national team that he can convince Van Gaal to include him after being dropped beforhand.

Pellegrini’s future in doubt

Another prominent person of the City of Manchester with an unclear future is Manuel Pellegrini, coach of the title defender Man City side. City have lost five from their last seven competitive games and not just against the likes of Barcelona and Liverpool. They also came up short against Burnley and most recently at Crystal Palace as well, in games when Pellegrini did not miss any of his key players.

This is the South American’s second year as City manager and though the Sky Blues won the Premier League in his first one, a serious crash in form that has begun in January saw City going out from the Champions League, the FA Cup and frankly, with the defeat on Monday they are out of the title contention too.

City is currently fourth is the table, one point behind United and nine-points behind Chelsea, the team they were level with at the start of the year, and the team leading the table with a game in hand. UK betting news reports that despite the results, Pellegrini’s position is safe for now. His performance will be evaluated at the end of the campaign.

Michael Clattenburg will officiate the derby who has a history of controversies – most recently breaking the Premier League’ protocol to get in time to a rock concert –, nevertheless he is considered one of the best referees in England. City supporters complained a lot about him favouring United but this season he sent off two players only and both of them were United players, Tyler Blackett and Luke Shaw.

Local derbies are always hard to predict, however it is hard to see this misfiring City defeating their rivals who now look like not just decent top four finishers but potential title challangers for next year’s campaign. As they are the obvious choice to win this game online sportsbooks in the UK backs Manchester United too, who won thirteen out of sixteen home games in the Premier League this season.