Pellegrini’s side were heavily tipped as contenders for the Premier League title at the start of the season, and even more so when reigning champions Chelsea filtered down the standings. However, they have failed to maintain their ‘favourites’ tag as they are now 12 points off the pace, while Leicester City are leading the way. The North-West outfit have only managed to win one of their last five league games and that was a 4-0 win over lowly Aston Villa, who are rooted to the bottom of the table.
City slipped up in the title race when they suffered defeat to their title rivals Leicester and Tottenham Hotspur in back-to-back matches and they failed to carry their momentum from winning the League Cup as they were undone 3-0 by Liverpool at Anfield in the following game. The team have failed to score in their last two games in all competitions, but they head into this weekend’s showdown having qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Manchester derbies are always big games in the calendar, but the result of Sunday’s match could prove to be crucial as both are vying for a spot in next season’s European tournament. City may hold fourth position at the moment, but West Ham United are just two points behind them, and with nine games in the domestic season left to go, the final Champions League spot is definitely up for grabs.
Pellegrini will depart the Etihad Stadium in the summer to make way for Pep Guardiola and given that the Premier League crown is edging further and further away, their only hope of major silverware this season could be the Champions League. The Chilean boss may prioritise that competition as he wants to leave City on a high, but make no mistake, he will understand the magnitude of Sunday’s game against his neighbours.
LVG has come under criticism numerous times this season for his tactics, his team’s lacklustre displays and unfavourable results in both the Premier League and cup games. Last month, it seemed as though United had turned a corner as they grabbed three victories on the bounce – one was against Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup, another against FC Midtjylland in the Europa League and the third was a 3-2 win over Arsenal. The Red Devils claimed back-to-back league wins for the first time since November when Juan Mata scored in the 83rd minute to give the team a 1-0 win over Watford on March 2.
The winning run did not last long, though, as they were undone by a single goal from Salomon Rondon in their league match against West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns almost a fortnight ago.
As well as losing the game, Mata was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 26th minute and was forced to miss out of last weekend’s 1-1 draw with West Ham United in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. United now find themselves sixth in the Premier League table, four points behind their rivals City, who sit in the final Champions League spot, with nine matches left to play.
The team were also dealt a blow on Thursday when they were knocked out of the Europa League by Liverpool at Old Trafford. The club’s inconsistency and failure to produce more than a handful of shots on target in a match gives a sense of uncertainty ahead of this weekend’s fixture, and they have not lost three successive league games away at City since 1995.