Manchester Derby: History on the side of the away team
(Baonghean.vn) - The Manchester derby between Man City and Man Utd at Etihad Stadium, taking place at 11:30 p.m. on November 11, round 12 of the 2018/19 Premier League season, will attract the attention of all of Europe. MU is trying to narrow the 9-point gap with the top team The Citizen to soon return to the top 4.
The Citizen are showing impressive form with 10 wins, 1 draw after 11 matches on all fronts. But in the 5 Manchester derbies between Man City and Man Utd, they are the team with only 1 win, 3 losses and 1 draw. Even in the second leg of last season, leading 2-0 at home, they were still overturned by Pogba and the MU players 3-2.
In fact, at Etihad Stadium, MU players have returned with 3 points 11 times, while the home team has only won 7 times. In 42 meetings, on the pitch, MU won 21 matches, drew 8 and lost only 13 matches, a statistic that is overwhelmingly in favor of the away team.
MU is not good but lucky
It can be said that Man Utd is a formidable opponent for Man City, especially when the Red Devils have only won 3 consecutive matches. Especially when Man Utd will have the opportunity to take revenge on Juventus when the two teams meet again at Allianz Stadium in the 4th round of the Champions League group stage after losing 0-1 at Old Trafford. This is the match where Man Utd won 2-1 after being led by Ronaldo, they only needed 4 minutes to score 2 goals.
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| Pogba wants to prove he is a player for big matches. Photo: Internet |
Man City fans have reason to worry because the away team has not played well but has been lucky. The victory over Juventus was the most spectacular comeback since Man Utd scored 2 goals in 5 minutes to turn the situation around against Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final. Juventus fired 23 shots but only 3 were on target and scored 1 goal against MU.
On the contrary, the Red Devils only had 9 shots and 3 shots on target but surprisingly won 2-1. This shows the efficiency and luck on the side of the MU players. Before that, MU also had to thank the "lucky god" for being on their side when Rashford shone at the right time to score a goal in the last second to seal the victory for the Red Devils in the recent match against Bournemouth.
Meanwhile, Man Utd fans are happy that Lukaku is injured and will definitely not be present in the Manchester derby. After scoring 4 goals in the first 5 matches of the season, the Belgian striker has not scored since mid-September, with 9 consecutive matches without a goal. Meanwhile, Anthony Martial is in very good scoring form, with 5 goals in the last 4 Premier League appearances.
Recently, Man City fans reacted strongly on social networks when they learned that the English Football Association (FA) chose referee Anthony Taylor as the main referee for the key match of round 12 of the English Premier League between Man Utd and Man City at Etihad Stadium.
Man City fans believe that Mr Taylor has long been a Man Utd fan, as his birthplace is just six miles from Old Trafford. Especially when the 40-year-old referee's family members are known to be loyal supporters of the red half of Manchester.
Going back in time, referee Anthony Taylor also made Man City fans angry when he showed a red card to Fabian Delph in Man City's 0-1 loss to Wigan in the FA Cup last February. Man City fans said that appointing Taylor as the starting referee was nothing more than "a joke" and of course their team would be at a disadvantage.
Sterling - the inspiration
When asked if anyone can change the history of this weekend's Manchester derby, Man City fans will say Sterling. WhenWithout De Bruyne, last season's best player, due to a knee injury and expected to be out until December, Sterling is the perfect replacement.
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| Since the beginning of the season, Sterling has played 9 matches, scored 6 goals and had 5 assists. Photo: Internet |
Since the beginning of the season, Sterling has played 9 matches (all starting) in the Premier League this season. He directly scored 6 goals and had 5 assists for his teammates. Sterling only scored less than main striker Aguero (7) and together with Mendy is Man City's most dangerous passer.
He was the key player in Man City's 6-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk on November 7, and is almost certain to advance to the next round of Group F of the Champions League. This is the second match in just four days that Man City have scored six goals. In the Premier League last weekend, they beat Southampton 6-1.
Under Guardiola's guidance, the midfielder has transformed completely from what he showed at the 2018 World Cup. It is expected that he will be the one to inspire his teammates at the Etihad Stadium this week.
