The standout Premier League fixture this weekend takes place at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon, as Manchester City face Manchester United in the Manchester derby.
Three places and 19 points separate the two bitter rivals in the table, with the hosts seeking to steer clear of Liverpool at the top while the Red Devils aim to re-ignite their top-four pursuit.
As we have become accustomed to seeing all season long, one team’s hard work was undone by an inexplicable VAR decision, as Everton held Manchester City at Goodison Park and were somehow not awarded a penalty when the ball struck Rodri’s arm inside the area.
A lapse of concentration from Michael Keane at the other end of the field allowed Phil Foden to prod home the game’s only goal eight minutes from time, but Everton were reportedly apologised to by PGMOL chief Mike Riley after VAR official Chris Kavanagh saw nothing wrong with the Rodri incident.
However, champions certainly have to win ugly on a couple of occasions, and City have seemingly mastered the art of doing so, but they strolled to a 2-0 FA Cup fifth-round win over Peterborough United earlier this week to set up a quarter-final showdown with Southampton.
Foden’s late Goodison goal saw Man City open up a six-point gap to Liverpool in the rankings – although the Reds do boast a game in hand – and Pep Guardiola will need no reminding of how his side’s most recent home encounter went against Tottenham Hotspur.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been ruled out of Sunday’s Manchester derby through injury. Edinson Cavani is also not part of the match-day squad for the game at the Etihad Stadium.
That leaves interim United manager Ralf Rangnick with only Marcus Rashford as a recognised centre-forward, with attacking midfielder Bruno Fernandes also an option as false nine.
On their absence, Rangnick said: “Edi (Cavani) trained well the last three days but at the end he didn’t feel quite well enough to be able to play. Cristiano had some problems with his hip flexor on Friday and since then didn’t play.” Ronaldo, 37, is Manchester United’s top scorer this season with 15 goals in 30 appearances in all competitions.
Only one of those goals, however, has come in 2022. In his last 10 matches, Ronaldo has scored just once — a well-taken effort from distance in the 2-0 home win over Brighton & Hove Albion on February 15.
Rangnick’s United, despite sitting fourth in the Premier League, have scored only 17 goals in their last 12 matches. Last month, Rangnick admitted Ronaldo “should score more goals” but added “it is not only an issue with Cristiano, it’s also an issue with all the other players”.
The only previous Premier League game Ronaldo has missed this season was United’s 2-2 draw to Aston Villa on January 15, due to a hip issue.
When asked again about Ronaldo’s struggles in front of goal this year, Rangnick said on Friday:
“A few things that have happened in the last couple of months that couldn’t have been foreseen by anybody.”
Rangnick, who will be taking charge of his first Manchester derby, also spoke positively about England international Rashford, another forward option.
Rashford has not scored since the 1-0 win over West Ham United on January 22 but Rangnick insisted the 24-year-old has “abundant talent”.
“I will put all my energy into that, to help him to take the same pathway that other players did in the last three months,” Rangnick added.
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