Manchester United will host their city rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford for the second Manchester Derby of the English Premier League‘s 2022–23 season. Both teams comfortably sit in the UEFA Champions League places. The previous Derby ended in a nine-goal thriller, which City won 6-3. The Red Devils will be eyeing revenge and closing the gap to one point in the league table. We now look at the stats of the two teams that could help in predicting the outcome of the match.
Manchester United are on a four-match winning streak in the league. Erik ten Hag’s men have won 11, drawn two, and lost four matches this season. The Red Devils have netted 27 goals in 17 matches and average 1.47 xG per match. The defence has conceded 20 goals and averages 1.53 xGA per match. They have kept a clean sheet in their last three matches.
Manchester City, on the other hand, have struggled a bit in the recent gameweeks, and that has widened the gap between them and Arsenal by five points. Pep’s men have registered 12 wins, three draws, and two losses. They have scored the most goals in the league with 45 and an average xG rate of 2.22. The defence has been a bit leaky and conceded 16 goals with an average xGA rate of 0.84.
What happened in their last meeting?
Manchester City came all guns blazing and scored six past United’s defence in matchweek nine. Phil Foden and Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick each to secure three points for their side.
Phil Foden opened the scoring in the eighth minute, and City went on to score four in the first half. The team created 34 positional attacks and three counterattacks. They attempted 22 shots, and nine were on target. The xG rate was very high at 4.35. The above xG map shows that all goals were scored from inside the opposition penalty box.
Manchester United were all over the place in the first half. They tried to make a comeback in the second half and went on to score three goals. The team created 28 positional attacks and attempted 13 shots. Of these 13 shots, ten came in the second half. Anthony Martial came off the bench and scored a brace for the Red Devils.
Manchester City’s dominance in the league
Manchester City are a team that likes to stay at the top of the table. They have failed to do so in the league table but have managed to get a high rank in the stats department. The above viz shows the comparison of the percentile ranks of these two teams. The viz also compares the rank with other English Premier League teams. It can be observed that Manchester City have dominated in every stat. Manchester United, on the other hand, have a decent rank in every department.
Efficiency in attack
These teams have been dominant in attack and have the highest attacking efficiency in the league. Manchester United averages 27.47 positional attacks and 2.53 counterattacks per match. Manchester City, on the other hand, averages 36.35 positional attacks and 2.18 counterattacks per match. This could turn out to be a high-scoring match as both teams have high attacking efficiency.
Team news
Donny Van de Beek and Axel Tuanzebe are ruled out for the match. Diogo Dalot could return to the starting 11 if he recovers on time.
Ruben Dias is sidelined due to an injury.
Betting Analysis
Manchester City are the favourites to win this match. The 1×2 odds are on the higher side for Manchester United. The chances of a draw are also high. In the last match, a total of nine goals were scored. The rates are lower than double for more for over 2.5 goals. The match could once again experience plenty of goals.
Manchester United will look to avenge their loss from last time. They are the team in form and have a chance to move further up in the league table. However, it won’t be easy to secure three points against this Manchester City side as they are also looking to close the gap with Arsenal.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine