Manchester United v Manchester City: 5 reasons Mourinho will emerge victorious

Psychology favors Manchester United

In the early 1900’s, psychologists discovered stress aided the completion of difficult tasks. Too much stress, however, and performance dropped. The Red Devils go into Sunday’s match with just enough stress to perform at their peak.

The general consensus is this the last chance to stop Manchester City’s romp to the title. If the chasing pack is to have any hope of catching the league leaders, nothing but a win will do for United. The pressure is on, and it will help on Sunday.

The trick with tension is to apply just the right amount to enable peak performance. Whether it is applying pressure by criticizing an underperforming player or easing it by grabbing the headlines in the post match conference after a difficult game, Mourinho is a master of this.

The Portuguese tactician does seem to lose his knack of administering stress in his third season at a club, but this is only his second. And Mourinho has won a title in his second season at every major club he has managed.

Guardiola is no slouch himself at motivating his charges. His job in complicated though by another psychological principle: risk compensation. When people feel safe, they become careless. When they feel more risk, they become careful.

The Citizens know they have a cushion. A loss is not a catastrophe for them. As such, they are at risk of becoming careless. Unfortunately for them, Mourinho is famous for setting up his teams to minimize its own mistakes and capitalizing on the mistakes of opponents.