Another weekend of top action is here with us and top of the focus list in the two top leagues in the UK will be two derbies – in Manchester and in South Wales – as the Premier League and Championship seasons continue. A lot is in store for these competing teams, more than just the bragging rights.
In the Manchester derby, Manchester United hosts Manchester City at Old Trafford on Saturday with both sides badly in need of three points at stake here. Of course, those will come with the bragging right but in the extraordinary season that this is, no team would want to drop points in such a game.
Manchester United are coming from a torrid outing in the Champions League, where they were eliminated and dropped to the Europa League. Their performance in the Champions League has once again seen calls for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sacking and they will want to calm that with a win here. As for City, having started the season unconvincingly, they will want to build on the two straight wins they’ve had in the league ahead of this game.
Each of the two sides has won three of the last six matches but Manchester United have two straight wins over City going to this game. With just one point separating the two sides in the standings, this will come across as a very key game and a key stat will be the fact that both sides have been scoring consistently in recent matches. On SportyTrader, both sides are tipped to score and looking at their recent results, it is hard to dispute that.
Read more: Rodgers rates Ndidi Europe’s best
In the Championship, bragging rights as well as three crucial points will be up for grabs when Cardiff City hosts Swansea. Cardiff have been on a fine run lately and couldn’t have wished for a better time to face their arch rivals. They have won each of their last four matches and closed the gap on Swansea to just four points and their only downside will be playing a derby without home fans to cheer them on. Swansea on the other hand hope they can pick three points in this game, which could see them leap to second in the standings. It hasn’t been smooth for them in recent times and have not done so well away but what better point will they have to rediscover form than away from home?
Other key matches over the weekend will see Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham all fight for top spot in the league standings. All the three will be playing away on the weekend, with Chelsea touring Merseyside to face Everton as Liverpool heads to West London to take on Fulham while Tottenham have a London derby as they play away at Crystal Palace.
One team hoping all the top three sides drop points, will be fourth placed Leicester City, who returned to winning ways in their last match against Sheffield United. Leicester had their top players return from injury and needed a last-minute Jamie Vardy goal to seal a 2-1 win away in Sheffield.
Among the players returning was defensive midfielder Wilfred Ndidi, and his worth was seen, with manager Brendan Rodgers heaping praise on him. The Foxes are set to take on Brighton at home in the last match of the round and they will be hoping for another win.
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