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When the Clash Of Two Men Overshadows an Iconic Rivalry

Has there been a bigger Manchester Derby? In terms of sheer scale of the personalities involved I think not. Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola will be looking to pick up things right where they left off in Spain. It was an infamous two years in Spain during which it would be fair to say that Guardiola had the upper hand. Jose would be dying to go one better in perhaps the competition he's most comfortable with.
Jose would be dying to go one better in perhaps the competition he's most comfortable with.



















Come Saturday afternoon Pep and his team will definitely be going for the win which is synonymous with his teams irrespective of the opposition. On the other hand the pragmatist would adopt a more cautious approach trying to absorb all the pressure and strike on the counter, a tactic that has worked wonders for him.

Mourinho would be glad that City are without suspended striker Sergio Aguero. Definitely one thing lesser to worry about this weekend. This means that Guardiola will have to field the young Iheanacho up front. Mourinho would still have to deal with Raheem Sterling who has put in some sparky performances under the new manager.Apart from this City have also got Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva and new signing Nolito who's really good with 1v1 situations. This should still be a handful for the United defense to contend with. Silva would be a constant threat when he does his thing between the lines letting Nolito and De Bruyne to cut in and keep the Center Backs occupied. This is also going to allow Silva to operate further up the pitch which could be dangerous.

It would be interesting to see if Pep still persists with his inverted full backs, considering United would have the pace of Martial on the left wing. And should Mourinho choose to play Mkhitaryan city should be more reluctant to play higher up. And the most interesting duel would be the one between Stones and Ibrahimovic. Stones will not enjoy the freedom like in his previous games to bring out the ball from the defense and initiate build-up with Zlatan constantly on the prowl. It goes without saying how crucial Paul Pogba would be to United's midfield. His role is crucial in disrupting City's short passing and not allowing their midfielders to play into United's half.

City will be without the services of their most important players.


Though recent Manchester derbies have lacked the old spark this could finally be the one to live up to its expectations. Still being very early days in the season, its hard to believe that the result of the game would have much weight on the title race. Rest assured both managers wouldn't want to surrender their perfect start to the campaign and would be looking for the win.
PREDICTION: United to win; Zlatan to score.

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