Manchester City parted company with Pep Guardiola in the summer, leaving some big shoes to fill for his replacement. However, Enzo Maresca has seen the team land three victories without looking totally convincing. The Italian will now oversee his first Manchester derby when making the short trip to Old Trafford and there's sure to be a bouncing atmosphere for this one.
United have a decent recent record when it comes to derby day games, with Michael Carrick hoping his side recover from conceding two equalisers at Everton when having the match within their grasp. However, the Red Devils are the outsiders to claim a win on Sunday afternoon, with the defence having proved leaky so far this season.
Manchester United v Manchester City Betting Markets
This is a huge Premier League match at such an early stage of the 2026/27 season. It's an opportunity for Manchester United to kickstart their campaign and repeat the victory they enjoyed against City in January. On that occasion, a 2-0 win was recorded shortly after Michael Carrick took caretaker charge after the departure of Ruben Amorim.
Despite only having 30% of the possession that day, United fully deserved their victory, with Bryan Mbuemo and Patrick Dorgu striking in the second half. They had seven shots on target compared to their opponents' one, although the bookies still make them outsiders to win this clash. Odds of 3.10 imply that the Red Devils only have a roughly 33% chance of recording three points this weekend.
Although United ran out 5-1 winners against Ipswich Town in their first Old Trafford encounter, they lost 2-0 at Hull City in their EPL opener and then took the lead twice at the Hill Dickinson Stadium only to be pegged back by a determined Everton side. Nevertheless, they will have had an easier Champions League clash coming into this game than their opponents.
City are trading at odds of around 2.10 to continue their 100% start to the season, with Maresca's team having recorded wins over Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Coventry. Their victory at Selhurst Park was comfortably the most emphatic, with the players having to recover quickly from a Tuesday night Champions League engagement away to Porto. Even so, they have the squad to attack United and make it a difficult game.
At this stage of the season, the draw could be an outcome that would appease both managers. Ten points from the opening four clashes would be satisfactory for title-chasing City, while United would have five points and a confidence booster in the process.
Goals Under/Over
Plenty of goals are likely to be scored at Old Trafford according to the Premier League betting sites. The Over 2.5 Goals price is 1.53 with the top bookies and that means a roughly 65% chance that we'll see the net bulge three times. Manchester City's opener featured three goals and there were five scored at Selhurst Park. However, it was just a 1-0 victory against Coventry last weekend.
Manchester United's first match only involved two goals but that has been followed by tallies of six and four. The attacking side of things appears fine although five goals have been conceded across three games. They'll once again cede plenty of possession to the opposition and hope to take advantage on the counter-attack.
For those looking to push the goal line, the Over 3.5 Goals price is trading at odds-against. However, three of the past five Manchester derbies have ended up with Under 2.5 Goals.
BTTS
This is an interesting market considering that BTTS Yes is trading at really short odds. The Manchester derby betting sites have 1.44 that United and City both score at least one goal and that might be worth opposing. The past three encounters between the pair have seen BTTS No come in. There was the 2-0 United win last term which followed a comfortable 3-0 victory for the men in blue a year ago.
Previously to this, the teams played out a goalless draw at Old Trafford. There's the potential for this clash to play out like a game of cat and mouse. Manchester United will be prepared to go without the ball for long spells and aim to exploit the opposition on the break. City might be somewhat stifled by the opposition crowding out the midfield area.
The flip side is that both teams have had BTTS Yes in two of their three games to date and will want to try and land a victory. United will have the onus on them as the home team to attack and should create chances against a City side who conceded against Bournemouth and Palace. The visitors have plenty of dangerous attacking weapons and won't want to go a third consecutive visit to Old Trafford failing to hit the back of the net.
First Goalscorer
It was Bryan Mbuemo who broke the deadlock for Manchester United when the teams last contested a derby and the Ghanaian also fired the first goal of the game at Everton last weekend. He's likely to carry a threat and may well be deployed as the centre forward on this occasion. The other scorer on Merseyside was Benjamin Sesko and it might be that Michael Carrick decides to use the player's aerial and physical presence to good effect.
We've not see a great deal from Matheus Cunha thus far but he's clearly dangerous, while Bruno Fernandes will be a popular pick in terms of scoring a goal or creating an assist. The Portuguese notched a hat-trick against Ipswich and will be standing over any free-kicks or penalties that are awarded to United.
Erling Haaland is always the first point of reference when it comes to a Manchester City forward and the striker has claimed three goals so far this season. Enzo Maresca has talked about managing his minutes but he surely starts in a game of this magnitude, while Antoine Semenyo can't be far away from scoring his first goal.
In tight spaces, we know all about the prowess of Rayan Cherki and perhaps the Frenchman can probe away and find a gap to shoot. At a bigger price, Josko Gvardiol seems to be getting into good positions and he found the net against Bournemouth.
