Manchester United vs. Manchester City: 5 key matchups
Manchester United host Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday. Here are five key head-to-head matchups that could decide the result.
This is it, the one we’ve been waiting for. Sunday’s Manchester derby sees first-place City travel to Old Trafford to take on second-place United in a match that will have huge implications on the title race. If City win, they’ll extend their lead at the top of the table to 11 points, surely too big of a gap for the chasing pack to overcome. If United win, the lead will be down to five points with over half the season still to play. Here are five key matchups that could decide what promises to be a fascinating tactical battle between Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.
Antonio Valencia vs. Fabian Delph
Fabian Delph, a central midfielder by trade, has done an excellent job as City’s left-back in the two months since Benjamin Mendy tore his ACL. But that has much to do with the fact City average over 65 percent possession a match, and Delph is good on the ball. His ability to drift inside and play as an auxiliary midfielder have served him well under Pep Guardiola, who demands more technical quality from his full-backs than any manager in the world.
As you’d expect, however, Delph isn’t a particularly accomplished one-on-one defender, and lacks the recovery pace of Kyle Walker on the other side of City’s defense to make up for it. He was exposed by Sofiane Boufal for Southampton’s opening goal against the Citizens last weekend — it was, to be fair, a wonderful touch by Boufal, but Delph didn’t cover himself in glory — and he’s the obvious weak link in City’s back line.
Antonio Valencia, also a former midfielder, has become one of the best two-way full/wing-backs in the league. His attacking quality has come further to the fore in the past few matches, as Mourinho has switched to a back three in the absence of his first-choice center-backs, Eric Bailly and Phil Jones. Valencia, never shy about getting forward, has even more freedom to attack in the new formation, as he showed when he scored United’s opener against Arsenal last Sunday.
The shape of this game is likely to depend on whether Mourinho sets his side up to sit deep and play on the counter, or whether he adopts the same high-pressing approach he used against Arsenal. Either way, Valencia will be, as always, one of United’s primary attacking outlets. He should be relishing the opportunity to play against Delph. Isolating those two one-on-one could be United’s best route to goal.
Raheem Sterling vs. Ashley Young
Speaking of makeshift full-backs, Ashley Young has, somehow, nailed down the left-back position at United over the past month and a half. Whether he plays as a traditional full-back or a wing-back remains to be seen, but he’s going to have plenty of work to do without the ball either way. Young is a willing runner, and a better defender than Delph, but he’s the obvious weak link in United’s makeshift back line.
To make matters worse, he’ll be up against late goalscorer extraordinaire Raheem Sterling, who’s enjoying the best season of his career. The winger, who turns 23 two days before the match, has scored nine league goals for City this season, tied with Sergio Aguero for the most on the team, including winners against Southampton, Huddersfield and Bournemouth (and Feyenoord in the Champions League).
Young has many virtues, but one-on-one defending against players that are faster and more skillful than he is is not one of them. The good news for Young is that Sterling doesn’t dribble that much, averaging only two a match. The bad news is much of Sterling’s best work is done off the ball; his diagonal runs into the box from out wide are particularly dangerous with Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva providing the service.
City are ruthless at exploiting opposition weaknesses, and if Sterling gets the better of Young early on, the Citizens will keep targeting him. Young will hope he can make an impact in attack, as he did in his two-goal performance against Watford recently. Sterling, however, is supported by Walker, possibly the best full-back in the league in terms of his ability to cover an entire touchline by himself. Young’s surprised a lot of people as a left-back, but this is going to be a big test.
Kevin De Bruyne/David Silva vs. Nemanja Matic
Nemanja Matic was an injury doubt for the Arsenal game, but recovered in time to deliver what Mourinho described as an “immense” performance. That seems generous, given the Gunners managed 33 shots, including 15 on target, but Matic did rack up four tackles, three interceptions, 10 clearances and three blocks. He missed United’s Champions League match against CSKA Moscow on Tuesday, but should return for the derby. Mourinho will need him to be at his best.
In particular, he’ll have to keep an eye on Kevin De Bruyne, who has emerged this season as City’s best player. De Bruyne’s passing quality in the final third, particularly from wide areas, is the best in the Premier League, if not the world. With Sterling and Leroy Sane darting in from the wings, and Aguero doing his thing in the 18-yard box, the Belgian has multiple extremely dangerous options to choose from every time he gets his foot on the ball with time to pass.
Mourinho is dastardly enough to instruct his players to foul De Bruyne out of the game, or to man mark him with (probably) Ander Herrera, as he has done with Eden Hazard in the recent past. But City have a lot more weapons than Chelsea, and Silva is a world-class second option if De Bruyne can’t get a grip of the game, all of which means whether his primary matchup is with De Bruyne or Silva, or just in a zone in front of his back four/five, Matic will be crucial.
Romelu Lukaku vs. Vincent Kompany
Romelu Lukaku hasn’t maintained his early-season form, when he scored seven goals in his first seven league matches, but he remains pivotal to United’s attack. He had some lovely touches against Watford in matchweek 14, and played a crucial role in the buildup to United’s second goal against Arsenal on Sunday with the sort of touch and pass some think are too often lacking from his game.
City are almost certainly going to dominate possession for long stretches, meaning Lukaku’s ability to hold up the ball will be crucial if the home side are going to get anything out of the match. He’ll be up against Vincent Kompany, rested against West Ham last week to avoid a suspension for yellow card accumulation, and rested again for the Champions League match against Shakhtar midweek.
Kompany relishes playing against powerful center forwards and tends to struggle more against quick players capable of spinning in behind. Lukaku offers a little bit of both. United like to get the ball out wide and play crosses into the big Belgian, a tactic which plays to Kompany’s strengths. The big question for these two, then, will be how good Lukaku’s touch is when United play the ball into his feet.
The striker is guilty of some truly terrible first touches, but is more than capable of spinning his man, at which point his combination of pace and power make him close to unstoppable. City play a high line, and Kompany needs to be very careful about how tight he gets when the ball is played into Lukaku. This may not be the game’s most important matchup from a tactical perspective, but it’s going to be fascinating to watch how these two play against each other.
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David de Gea vs. everyone
United did some excellent things against Arsenal last weekend, especially in the opening 15 minutes, when they forced the Gunners into several big mistakes leading to goals. But they ultimately owed their victory to David de Gea, who bailed them out with 14 saves, a Premier League record, as United’s defense failed to get to grips with Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Alexandre Lacazette, et al.
The Red Devils’ defensive struggles don’t bode well for the match against City, who despite a slight dip in form in recent weeks have the most talented and varied attack in the Premier League. They’ve scored 46 goals in only 15 matches so far, and their goal difference is 10 points better than United’s. In short, if De Bruyne, Sterling and Aguero don’t get you, Silva, Sane and Gabriel Jesus almost certainly will.
It’s hard to imagine United allowing 15 shots on target two matches in a row, but de Gea’s likely to play a crucial role even if the defense in front of him improves. In addition to his performance against Arsenal, de Gea has made crucial interventions against Liverpool and Tottenham. Mourinho can’t have been thrilled with his defenders last week, but perhaps he appreciated the reminder he’s got the best keeper in the league to bail them out.