Man City v Man United Betting Preview

Manchester City can go level on points with their city rivals by taking all three points in this massive Manchester derby. The bookmakers are predicting a typically tight affair.

Ever since Manchester City came into a bit of money there has been a sense of power shift in the City of Manchester. But so far United have kept The Blues relatively quiet by doing the business on the pitch and another win here could mean that City manager Roberto Mancini is collecting his P45 in the morning.

Such is the pressure on the Italian at Eastlands that the weekend win over West Bromwich Albion did little to alleviate the pressure. The bookmakers still make him a 2/1 shot to be the next Premier League manager to vacate his post.

As for tonight’s match, odds of 17/10 on each side show just how closely matched the bookmakers believe these two sides are. Yet a closer look at the stats and recent head-to-heads heavily favours United.

Of their past six meetings in all competitions United have won all but one. The only anomaly from a Red Devils perspective was the Carling Cup first-leg semi-final defeat in which Carlos Tevez scored twice to help his side to a 2-1 victory.

The subject of Tevez will be a highly discussed one in the pre-match build-up to the game. City’s slump in form coincided with the Argentine’s absence through injury and they returned to winning ways when he returned to the starting XI on Sunday. His disdain towards United was made abundantly clear when the sides last met and he will be eager to make his presence felt tonight. The bookmakers make him a 6/4 chance to add to the three in four games that he scored against his previous employers last season.

This is a derby which has a lot more than local pride at stake. A win for City would put their Premier League title challenge back on track, a defeat could signal the end of it. Whereas United can go top of the table for the first time this season if they take all three points.