This weekend’s Manchester derby in the Premier League gives both sides the chance to really kick start their seasons after relatively poor starts. The current champions host the side from whom they took the title, and on current form it is a tough task to predict the outcome. Whether it will be the sky blue or red half of Manchester celebrating on Sunday night, we anticipate an exciting, hard-fought encounter with plenty of incident, and we’ve got some top betting tips to help you make some money from what should be quite a spectacle.
City have already been defeated on home soil in the league this season, to Stoke – surprisingly enough. But they have beaten United on five of the last six occasions they have faced them in the league and will feel confident ahead of this one, especially given how poorly the Red Devils have performed at the back this term: Louis van Gaal’s men have just the 16th best away defensive record in the top flight. Hardly stats that will give their fans confidence of making it to a top four finish this season.
Man City, meanwhile, haven’t been at their imperious best at the Eithad so far this term, but Manuel Pellegrini’s men have shown signs of hitting their stride, most notably in their recent 4-1 demolition of Spurs on home soil. It is no surprise, therefore, to see the bookies going with home advantage when pricing this one, with City available to back at best odds of 5/6 with Coral compared to 10/3 with the same bookie for United to triumph. The draw might tempt some, priced at 3/1 with BetVictor, but – as you will see from our betting tips – we feel the home side will have more than enough to get the three points.
Betting Tips
- Man City to win and both teams to score – At odds of 23/10 with Coral, backing the home side to win but both teams finding the net looks a very good option given the attacking talent at Van Gaal’s disposal. With Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Yaya Toure hitting form for the home side we feel the Citizens will be able to outscore the visitors, helped by United’s slapdash defensive play.
- Over 3.5 goals – If you are not keen on betting on the result itself, opting for a goal bet is always a good alternative. Three of the last six league meetings between these has produced four or more goals and six of the last seven have produced three or more so with United’s poor defence/potent attack combo we fancy we’re in for a goalfest here and backing over 3.5 goals at odds of 8/5 with BetVictor looks worth grabbing.
- Sergio Aguero to score first – Aguero looked a class apart in his last home game against Spurs and United’s defence will find him simply too hot to handle. Backing the Argentine at odds of 7/2 with Coral to break the deadlock looks like a very decent option to us.