The fierce rivals, Manchester United and Manchester City, will be battling it out in a potential title-deciding derby on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola’s City lead city rivals United by eight points heading into the Old Trafford clash, with Jose Mourinho’s Red Devils well off the pace despite sitting second in the table.
A win for City on United’s turf would guarantee the League leaders an 11-point lead after just 16 games, but victory for Mourinho’s men could blow the title race wide open heading into a busy festive fixture pile-up.
As expected, the games involving Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola are often dramatic and same is expected this Sunday.
Stay with PREMIUM TIMES for all the live updates.
Kick Off is 5:30 p.m.
TEAM NEWS
MANCHESTER CITY LINEUP
STARTING XI: Ederson; Walker, Kompany, Otamendi, Delph; Fernandinho, De Bruyne, D.Silva; Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Sane
SUBS: Bravo, Mangala, Danilo, Gundogan, B.Silva, Zinchenko, Aguero
MANCHESTER UNITED LINEUP
STARTING XI: De Gea; Valencia, Smalling, Rojo, Young; Herrera, Matic; Rashford, Lingard, Martial; Lukaku
SUBS: Romero; Lindelof, Jones, Mata, McTominay, Shaw, Ibrahimovic
Kick off at Old Trafford
First free kick
Superb atmosphere being generated by both sets of supporters, with the magnitude of this fixture clear to see – or hear, as it is! Lingard, just to confirm, is the man closest to Lukaku in the United attack; Rashford and Martial out wide.
YELLOW CARD! Kyle Walker is shown the game’s first yellow card ; making him an instant target for the United’s wide players.
Still goalless and Matic almost scored an own goal
Gabriel Jesus fluffed a good chance.
YELLOW CARD! Sterling exchanges passes with Silva inside the box but is unable to get a shot away. The referee just bringing things under control at the moment as this match is threatening to boil over following a serious of small
Rojo has been down receiving treatment for the last couple of minutes. The defender appears to have suffered a cut to his face, so Mourinho has sent Victor Lindelof out to warm-up. The Red Devils may be forced into a first-half change here.
Rojo back on
Lukaku squander another potential chance.. Still goalless
GOAL.. Manchester City take the lead
David Silva gets the goal for the Cityzens
GOAL!! Rashford equalizes for Manchester United.
Half Time : Manchester United 1-1 Manchester City
An entertaining first half at Old Trafford comes to a close, with the sides level at one goal apiece. Manchester City have been by far the better team, dominating possession and finally making it count late in the half, but credit to Manchester United for taking their only real opening of the contest through Rashford.
Second half resumes
Ander Herrera from Manchester United clears the danger with a good tackle
United more encouraging in the second half
Lingard beats his man, but he is unable to get a cross into the box where two teammates were waiting
Goal… Man city back in front
Nicolas Otamendi the scorer
Lukaku takes a share of the blame in.this goal again
Jesus is out and replaced by Eliaquim Mangala in a tactical substitution.
Rashford gets a yellow card for dissent
Lukaku poor with his touch again
Martial wins a free kick in a dangerous position
Rashford balloons the ball
De Bruyne nice attempt.. De Gea with a save
Rashford fires a shot but Ederson with a save
Juan Mata coming in for Hererra
Manchester United close to getting a late equaliser but Ederson makes a good save for City
Another change for Manchester City.. Leroy Sane out for Bernardo Silva
Man City are closing in on a record-breaking 14th consecutive EPL win in a single season.
Ashely Young gets a Yellow card after hacking down Sterling
Jose Mourino complaining on the sidelines
Very tense conclusion to the entertaining contest, as just the one goal separates the sides.
Bernando Silva tries to seal the win for City but De Gea forces a corner
Manchester City have a corner kick and the final whistle is blown!
Full Time Manchester United 1-2 Manchester City
Manchester City now have an astonishing 11 points gap with 46 points from 16 games
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