THIS Sunday, a side that has just broken an English record by winning 20 consecutive games takes on an opponent that is unbeaten in 20 matches on the road.
The away-day specialists will fancy their chances after losing on enemy soil in this fixture just once since 2014 and furthermore, it’s a derby, and we all know what a leveler they can be.
Victory for the visitors will close the gap at the top to nine points and resume discussions about a title race.
When this weekend’s all-Manchester affair is viewed in this way it all looks rather close, competitive and compelling doesn’t it? Two behemoths of the Premier League, both in fine form, on an unavoidable collision course with local bragging rights almost the least of the rewards on offer.
Yet though much of the above is factually accurate it only inhabits a small sliver of a much larger reality, one that is infinitely more revealing, especially when assessing how this highly anticipated clash will play out.
Five goals scored and only three conceded in 16 games played together, Stone and Dias are rock solid
Pep wins his 500th game as a manager as Man City extend their winning run to TWENTY straight games!
Unstoppable! #MCIWHU 2-1 pic.twitter.com/XppNUPaGFp
— Unibet (@unibet) February 27, 2021
It’s a reality that tells us Manchester City are presently several lightyears ahead of Manchester United.
Since losing to Spurs all the way back in November, Pep Guardiola’s side have transformed themselves to a quite remarkable degree and so sudden and dramatic has it been that it genuinely staggers. They are a relative who went for bed one night complaining they’re coming down with a head-cold before emerging the next morning with superpowers.
For 27 games now across all competitions they have yet to be bested and ordinarily their remorseless streak would worry the record books but not even this indomitable City side can rival their former selves from 2018 who hoovered up the lion’s share of them. Even so, there are still some unparalleled achievements up for grabs should their domination continue and these include winning the league at the earliest juncture and by the largest ever margin. The latter currently stands at 19 points. If City prevail over their hated neighbours they will be 15 points clear.
Perhaps though it could be said that we generally get too hung up on records in order to make sense of rare brilliance, and by doing so we overlook some outstanding feats accomplished along the way.
Here’s one that needed to be treble-checked because it prompts incredulity. Should John Stones and Ruben Dias start against United – as they almost certainly will – and if City don’t go behind in the opening six minutes, then the partnership will have conceded only three goals from 24 hours of playing together. Think back to what you were doing this time yesterday. Tot up all that has happened since then and now and then imagine that for every single moment – from eating your dinner, to watching Netflix, to sleeping – Mo Salah and Harry Kane and an endless rollcall of prolific strikers were spinning off these pair and darting into channels. Just three goals.
Ruben Dias and John Stones starting together:
Games: 16
⚽️ Goals scored: 5
Goals conceded 3That's ridiculous pic.twitter.com/d1BFJE3FWW
— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) February 28, 2021
City are 7/4 to win to nil
The duo’s well-organised parsimony can be extended of course to the rest of the team who are clearly taking a great deal of pride in revising a long-held opinion that City are extravagant and inventive going forward but can be susceptible at the back. So far this season the Blues have kept as many clean sheets as Tottenham and Liverpool put together, which is another startling feat. At the other end meanwhile, they have scored as many as Arsenal and Southampton combined.
That all this has been constructed on a defeat in North London that led to many writing off Guardiola’s creation is impressive indeed. That all of this has been achieved in part without Kevin De Bruyne and almost wholly without Sergio Aguero dumbfounds.
Raheem Sterling has found the net five times in his last eight league appearances and boasts a decent record in this fixture. He is 33/20 to score anytime
It is therefore somewhat disingenuous to hype the 185th Manchester derby with the amplified vernacular that usually accompanies a top two battle for this is not a close call, until a ball has been kicked at least. City are exploring the outer reaches of perfection, excelling beyond even their considerable capabilities, while United are merely flying high and the hosts too will gain further confidence from their most recent encounters. In December at Old Trafford, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s primary weapon of hitting on the counter was expertly nullified. In a Carabao Cup semi-final a month later City controlled the game throughout, took a two-goal lead, then went down to second gear.
When a derby is won using game-management that is indicative of a mismatch.
It should be stated in closing that none of the above, not a word of it, is designed to diminish Manchester United’s campaign to date. Their away record is a testament to sustained excellence while 21 points won from losing positions this term highlights their fortitude. Not only are the Reds the Premier League’s most prolific side but their wide variety of scorers suggest they have numerous threats.
Yet still, such is the size of their challenge this Sunday they should be backed at your peril, or at least backed as the underdogs they are.
The cliché of all cliches tells us that the league table never lies and right now it is informing us that the red half of Manchester are just a few result-swings behind their neighbours. On this it is bending the truth.
City recently beat Liverpool and Spurs by three-goal margins. They are 13/2 to do so again here
