Manchester City vs Manchester United. Premier League.
Etihad StadiumAttendance54,557.
Sunday 20 March 2016 18:33, UK
Manchester City are without captain Vincent Kompany for Sunday's huge derby against Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium, live on Sky Sports 1 HD.
The Belgian will be out for a month with a calf injury suffered against Dynamo Kiev in midweek.
City reached the Champions League quarter-finals where they will face Paris Saint-Germain, but they have fallen off the pace in the Premier League title race and could even be facing a battle to cling onto a top-four place.
They trail leaders Leicester by 12 points and are also below Tottenham and Arsenal in the race for second and third. They could even be fifth by the time they kick off against United.
Arch-rivals Manchester United are one of the sides hoping to close the gap, and that has placed extra importance on the derby.
United have themselves endured a difficult campaign, and suffered the indignity of a Europa League exit at the hands of Liverpool on Thursday.
Team news
As well as the absence of Kompany, fellow central defender Nicolas Otamendi (dead leg) could also be doubtful this weekend.
Midfielders Kevin De Bruyne (knee), Fabian Delph (Achilles) and Samir Nasri (thigh) are close to a return and could see some friendly action during the forthcoming international break.
Ander Herrera is a doubt for United with the groin issue that forced him to sit out Thursday's Europa League fixture.
Ashley Young and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson could come back into contention having returned to training, while Adnan Januzaj and Timothy Fosu-Mensah are available having been ineligible against Liverpool.
Wayne Rooney (knee), Luke Shaw (leg) and Will Keane (groin) remain absent, while Phil Jones is also out of contention.
Opta stats
Manchester United have won just one of their last eight Premier League away games (W1 D3 L4).
City have won four and lost just one of the last six Premier League meetings with United.
Sergio Aguero has scored seven goals in seven top flight games against Manchester United.
Only five players have scored more against the Red Devils in Premier League history (Ferdinand, Henry, Gerrard & Fowler with eight and Shearer with 10).
Vincent Kompany could be out for up to eight weeks with a calf injury
Sergio Aguero needs one goal to equal the most goals scored by a player in Premier League Manchester derbies and go level with Wayne Rooney (8). If he scores in this game then Aguero would have managed that in eight games, while Rooney took 16 derbies to do that.
Aguero has scored 11 goals in his last eight Premier League appearances at the Etihad Stadium.
Manuel Pellegrini could become the first Manchester City manager to win four Premier League Manchester derbies this weekend. The last City manager to win four Manchester derbies in the league was Joe Mercer in 1970 (won five in total).
Merson's predictions
Manchester City have to win this game! It's all becoming very tight in the race for the top four and Manuel Pellegrini's men are really struggling at the moment. The injuries to Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otamendi are a big blow, however, I see home advantage being key in this game. Manchester United also have injury problems and a tough game against Liverpool won't help their chances. I see City just edging this one 2-1.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (Sky Bet's odds: 15/2)
Betting
City are odds-on with Sky Bet to win the Manchester derby with United 16/5. The sides shared a goalless draw at Old Trafford earlier this season and another draw on Super Sunday is a 5/2 shot. City have had the better of United at home recently winning three of the last four league meetings, two of those finished 1-0 a 6/1 shot with Sky Bet.
