EPL Betting – City, United Set for Manchester Derby

Manchester City (+180) at Manchester United (+160), Draw (+250)

The Derby of Manchester will have two teams on top of the standings trying to earn another three points in their English Premier League battle. Manchester United (tied for second) will host league-leaders Manchester City this Sunday at Old Trafford (10:05 AM Eastern).

United (60-1-2, 19 pts) are currently level with Arsenal in the table and two points back of City. They can leapfrog the Citizens with a win at home.

The Red Devils were very impressive in their last EPL outing, crushing Everton 3-0 away.  They only managed a 1-1 draw at CSKA Moscow in Champions League action, but they’re still tied for second in Group B and have yet to lose a game at home all year.

After a bit of a lethargic start to the year, the offense has picked up for United, who are now averaging 1.6 goals per game in the EPL (while allowing just 0.8).

Manager Louis Van Gaal is a little upset that his team had to travel to Russia before their key match with City, stating in the Telegraph, “Manchester City has a benefit because they are playing [their UCL game] at home, and that is a difference … You have the benefit of the recuperation.”

City manager Manuel Pellegrini is downplaying any scheduling advantage: “I don’t think we have an advantage. Maybe if the derby was tomorrow [Saturday] and not Sunday it would be a small advantage, but I don’t think United will have any problem to recover from Wednesday to Sunday.”

Pelligrini’s squad beat Sevilla, 2-1, in Champions League play during the week on the strength of a last minute goal by Kevin De Bruyne. The win was the team’s  fourth win in a row in all competitions.  Their last two EPL matches have been laughers; the Citizens embarrassed Newcastle, 6-1, and Bournemouth, 5-1. The lopsided victories upped their league-leading goal total to 24 (2.6 GPG).

These two teams split the series a season ago with each squad winning at home, and there have now been 12 straight games in the series without a draw. Man City looks like the solid bet here, even as they go on the road. It will be rare that you can get Man City at +180 this EPL season. Though United have been great at home this year, City have the stronger roster, making them look like better value as minor underdogs.

Pick: Man City (+180). 

(Photo credit: Ronnie Macdonald (Community Shield 21 – Samir Nasri corner) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)