Manchester United vs Manchester City Tommorrow 25 July 2016 Derby!
Manchester United and Manchester City meet on Monday in their pre-season International Champions Cup match in Beijing, China.
The derby represents Jose Mourinho's third game as Red Devils boss, while Pep Guardiola is taking charge of his City players for a second time.
Both sides go into the match on the back of disappointing results, with United's players licking their wounds after a 4-1 thrashing by Borussia Dortmund, while City were also beaten by German opponents in the form of Guardiola's former club Bayern Munich.
Here are 11 things you need to know ahead of the first EVER Manchester derby in Asia...
1. When is the match and where can i see it?
The game will be played at the 91,000 seater Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing. The game will kick off on Monday 25th July at 8:00pm local time and 1:00pm UK time.
It will be shown live on MUTV, with the build up starting at 12:30pm.
2. Team news
City are expected to line up in a similar way to the way they did against Bayern Munich.
United could rest the likes of Eric Bailly, Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera and Juan Mata after all four players featured for 90 minutes against Borussia Dortmund on Friday.
Jose Mourinho had initially said Wayne Rooney, Chris Smalling and Marcus Rashford wouldn't feature in China, but Rashford came on as a sub against Dortmund so any one of those three players could feature.
3. Predicted Teams
Manchester City (4-2-3-1)
Caballero; Maffeo, Kompany, Adarabioyo, Angelino; Fernando, Fernandinho; Barker, Zinchenko, Navas; Iheanacho
Manchester United (4-2-3-1)
Romero; Fosu-Mensah, Jones, Blind, Rojo; Pereira, Carrick; Lingard, Young, Mkhitaryan; Depay
4. Reasons for Manchester City fans to be optimistic
- Guardiola has only lost three of 16 games against Mourinho, meaning he has only tasted defeat in 18.8% of their meetings.
- Guardiola appears to be giving the talented youngsters at City a chance with Brandon Barker, Kelechi Iheanacho and Tosin Adarabioyo all starting against Bayern Munich.
- Willy Caballero impressed against Bayern, making three superb saves.
5. Reasons for Manchester United fans to be optimistic
- New signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan has impressed so far and should feature.
- This is United's second game in China, so they should be more used to the heat than City.
- Mourinho hasn't lost to Guardiola in his last three games, winning two of them.
6. Recent Meetings
20th March 2016: Man City 0-1 Man Utd
25th October 2015: Man Utd 0-0 Man City
12th April 2015: Man Utd 4-2 Man City
2nd November 2014: Man City 1-0 Man Utd
25th March 2014: Man Utd 0-3 Man City
2nd November 2013: Man City 4-1 Man Utd
7. Recent Form
Manchester City
- Bayern Munich 1-0 Man City (pre-season)
- Swansea 1-1 Man City
- Man City 2-2 Arsenal
- Real Madrid 1-0 Man City
- Southampton 4-2 Man City
- Man City 0-0 Real Madrid
In pictures - Bayern 1-0 City:
Manchester United
- Man Utd 1-4 Borussia Dortmund (pre-season)
- Wigan 0-2 Man Utd (pre-season)
8. Manchester City's key man
Sergio Aguero is no doubt City's key man. After returning from Argentina's Copa America final defeat to Chile on penalties, he has been included alongside David Silva in City's ICC squad.Aguero may feature in City's first ICC Cup game against United, and with key players such as Kevin De Bruyne unavailable, the 28-year-old will be City's key player upfront in their clash against their city rivals.9. Manchester United's key man
United's key man will be their new signing from Borussia Dortmund, Henrikh Mkhitaryan.The Armenian attacking midfielder started in Mourinho's first game against Wigan and scored in the defeat to Dortmund on Friday.
Leave a Comment