Manchester United vs. Manchester City: 5 key players for the derby
By Tom Bogert
There are a litany of high-profile and high ability players on display in the Manchester Derby for both Manchester United and Manchester City. Here are 5 key players.
It’s Manchester United, it’s Manchester City, it’s Old Trafford. This is the first gargantuan match of the early Premier League season.
A million cliches will fly around in the build up of this game. You’ll incessantly hear “title decider”, “top of the table six pointer”, “throw out the form because this is a derby”, and other tired sayings.
As annoying as they are, they’re rooted in truths.
Both clubs flying out of the gates with perfect 3-0-0 records and are already building impressive goal differentials. It is an early season title decider and a top of the table six pointer. It’d just be nicer to see them more eloquently pontificated.
That last cliché about the form and the derby usually means that one team is outpacing the other, then the media still tries to drive the hype machine to ensure no one thinks it’ll be an easy game. But that’s also because it won’t be, even if both teams weren’t playing so fantastically.
In the match will see some of the league’s best players on display. And that’s without Sergio Aguero who’s suspended for three games after elbowing Winston Reid in the face last time out.
Names like David de Gea, Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Wayne Rooney, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial will be opposite players like David Silva, Kevin de Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Nolito and potential debuts from Claudio Bravo and Leroy Sane.
Oh and not to mention two of the best managers in the world: Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.
What a spectacle.
Any player who steps on the field will have a huge role. There’s no hiding. But here are five of the most important players that’ll decide the battle of Manchester.
Next: Kelechi Iheanacho