Man City v Man United Prediction 9th December 2012

Man City v Man Utd Betting Preview
This should be one of the top clashes of the season so far in the Premier League. For all of the fire power that these two side can muster up, recent league derby matches between the two Manchester giants have been tight. Five of the last six Premier League derby games have ended with a 1-0 scoreline, tallying just five goals between them in the last six meetings. Last season City eked out a 1-0 home win on the way to securing the league title. They could do with a repeat of that as the Red Devils are three points clear of them at the top.

Man City v Man Utd Betting Odds at online bookmaker Bet Victor
Man City 6/5, Man United 12/5, Draw 5/2

Man City v Man Utd Recommended Bet:
This is the top battle of the Premier League on Sunday, a thrilling and tense Manchester derby in prospect. City really need the win more than the Red Devils and the two sides bring different strengths to the table in this one. City’s value is all about their defence, which has rattled off six clean sheets in their last nine matches. There were some defensive issues, especially with zonal defending from corners this season, but they seem to have tightened up a bit. The Citizens have not been as strong going forward this season as they were last term, and so in a tight derby match, the thing that could swing it in favour of the home side is their superior defence. The bookies are certainly swaying that way. City have won just one of the last four on home soil against United in the Premier League, but there are stats to suggest that City could just sneak it. They have shown tremendous resilience this season in maintaining their unbeaten start and their defence has conceded at an average of just 0.75 goals per game on home soil, scoring 2.38 per game. So the defence and holding the game in the middle is where City’s strengths are going to be, as their neighbours are producing far more up front. City had won four home games in a row before getting stopped in their tracks at the Etihad last weekend in a 1-1 draw with Everton.

City have recovered 15 points from losing positions this season, while United have remarkably pulled a league high of 21 points out of the bag from being behind in matches. United have produced 37 goals already this season in just 15 matches, and only once before in Premier League history have they scored more goals after fifteen matches than they have this season. Wayne Rooney is the Premier League’s leader for creating goals this season, and Robin van Persie keeps on knocking them in. United have much better potency up front, but their defence has struggled badly this season. They have conceded a massive 21 goals, almost twice as many as City have and only Spurs in the top half of the table have conceded more than the Red Devils. United have not played out a draw in the league this season, and on the road have produced six wins and two defeats. Their scoring rate is at 2.25 goals per game on the road, but rate of conceding is a high 1.5 goals per game. So this will truly be a battle of United’s forward power against City’s strengths at the back. Which will win out? City won this corresponding fixture last season by a 1-0 scoreline and it could just be worth taking a City 1 Goal Winning Margin for a price of 3/1 at online bookmaker Bet Victor.

Form
Man City WDDWDL, Man United LWWWL

Stat Attack
Five of the last six league Manchester derbies have ended in a 1-0 scoreline
City have kept six clean sheets in the last nine Premier League matches
United have been awarded the most penalties in EPL this season (five)
City have recovered 15 pts and United 21 from losing positions this season

Online bookmaker Promotion
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