Manchester City v Manchester United: Combined XI
By David Gate
Sergio Aguero
For a while there January signing Gabriel Jesus had us interested. Could Sergio Aguero really lose his place in the Manchester City first XI? That was unthinkable at the beginning of the year but it was looking like a reality until Jesus broke his metatarsal and was ruled out for the season. Aguero’s benching was the jolt he needed. He has scored 12 goals since being restored to the side and has scored in the last 6 games at the time of writing.
It remains to be seen if City will hang on to him in the summer or if Jesus’ cameo was enough to convince them to part ways with the two-time Premier League champion. If they do choose to move him on there will be no shortage of high-end European clubs willing to pay a fortune to have Sergio Aguero break the net of opposition goals for a few more seasons yet.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Sadly injury is going to rob us of seeing these two strikers dueling it out in the Manchester derby on Thursday. A bad knee injury against Anderlecht in the Europa League has ruled out the Swede for the rest of the season and perhaps for the rest of his career.
Next: Pep Guardiola is getting a pass from the press
At the start of the year there was much speculation about whether the Swedish icon could adapt to the pace of the Premier League. That speculation lasted less than a month as it was soon clear that Ibrahimovic’s skill, vision and finishing were a cut above most Premier League defenses. He will finish the year with 17 goals and 5 assists. That is a fantastic return for a 35-year-old on a very middling Manchester United team.