English League Cup: Another Manchester derby.

(Baonghean.vn) - At 1:45 AM on October 27th, the highlight match of the Round of 16 of the English League Cup will take place: the Manchester derby between Manchester United and Manchester City. Both teams are going through a disappointing period in terms of form. Manchester United recently suffered a crushing 0-4 defeat against Chelsea, while Manchester City has gone five consecutive matches without a win. Therefore, the match becomes even more exciting as both teams want to use it to boost the morale of their players.

Old Trafford is worried.

Speaking about the 0-4 defeat against Chelsea, veteran striker Eidur Gudjohnsen, a favorite pupil of Mourinho, jokingly said: "Jose still knows how to get Chelsea to their best form."

Football experts all agree that this is not Mourinho's team, despite spending $200 million on the recent transfer market. Last year, Louis Van Gaal earned 19 points from nine games, while Jose Mourinho has only managed 14 points so far. And David Moyes in the 2013-2014 season also earned the same number of points from nine games with players like Tom Cleverley, not Paul Pogba.

Both Mourinho and Guardiola are currently in a very difficult situation.

In the history of the Premier League, this is the second worst start for MU, with only one season (2014-2015) seeing Man Utd earn 13 points after nine rounds.

For Mourinho personally, the most forgettable result he'd ever experienced was the bitter 0-5 defeat against Barcelona in October 2010, while managing Real Madrid. Meanwhile, loyal Manchester United fans recall the last time Man Utd lost by four or more goals in the Premier League was against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in 1999, with a 5-0 scoreline.

From being the underdog against MU, Chelsea are now unbeaten against Man Utd in their last 8 consecutive Premier League matches (4 wins, 4 draws).

To date, Mourinho has managed 14 official matches as Manchester United's manager, winning 8, drawing 2, and losing 4, totaling 26 points. This means he is still 1 point behind Moye and 5 points behind Louis van Gaal.

Pogba has been tested in both the number 6 and number 10 positions, but the French midfielder hasn't been able to fully utilize his potential. To address this, Mourinho may choose Michael Carrick to replace Fellaini in the next match. Having benched Rooney, it's also likely that Mourinho will rest Zlatan Ibrahimovic to refresh MU's attack. The MU coaching staff will also use this match to experiment with the central defender position left vacant by Bally's injury sustained in the match against Chelsea.

Man City's worries

When the owner of the Etihad Stadium appointed Pep Guardiola, he expected Manchester City to play a more varied and attractive attacking style, rather than simply winning ugly matches. In reality, Pep's Manchester City still controls the ball very well, based on the technical skills of the players Guardiola brought to the Etihad. The "super quartet" of Silva, Bruyne, Aguero, and Sterling has made Manchester City's playing style much more fluid.

However, what Man City's owner, Sheikh Mansour, and the fans at the Etihad Stadium were hoping for – the seamless, quick passing and coordination needed to score goals – has yet to materialize. Pep Guardiola has struggled with the 3-5-2 or 3-5-1-1 formation, going five games without a win, causing Man City fans to grow impatient.

Playing at Old Trafford, Manchester United certainly can't park the bus in front of their goal.

Man City's opponents quickly identified their weakness: a rather awkward approach to short, quick passing from the defense. When facing teams that play a good pressing game, such as Brendan Rodgers' Celtic (3-3), Pochettino's Tottenham (0-2), and most recently Barcelona (0-4), they either drew or lost.

Man City are currently on a five-game winless streak (3 draws, 2 losses), and to make matters worse, the goals have been coming from long passes, something Pep Guardiola definitely doesn't want.

For the first time in his managerial career since March 2009, Guardiola has gone five consecutive matches without a win. Therefore, the English League Cup has never been particularly important to Manchester teams, but in this context, no one wants to lose this derby.

Currently, both Mourinho and Guardiola are in a very precarious position, and one's victory would mean pushing the other to the brink.

But that's football; only the winners have the right to write history!

An Thanh