Manchester City vs Sheffield United: Match preview, betting tips and predictions

Arsenal forward Aubameyang beats Man City goal keeper Ederson

The Citizens will look to consolidate at the top when the Blades come calling on Saturday. (Photo credit: Premierleague.com)

Manchester City vs Sheffield United
Etihad Stadium
4:00pm

The premier league is famed for the camaraderie, unpredictability and lots of media buzz, it’s living up to it as Manchester City becomes the ninth team in four months to sit at the very top of the league.

Manchester City are back in form and what a time to hit top gear, they sit at the very top of the log and that’s not even the scary part, they have a game in hand and a win against Burnley will take them four points clear of their fierce rivals Manchester United who travel to the Emirates on Saturday.

Sheffield United took a very big scalp in midweek, no one saw that coming, the big fall of Manchester United at Old Trafford against the Blades, Oliver Burke fired in the winner off Axel Tuanzebe and the rest is history, leaving United licking wounds and wondering what would have been.

Chris Wilder’s men are in the mud of the murky relegation waters but they can dream after the sensational win at Old Trafford, it would be said that Watford beat Liverpool under same circumstances and almost at same stage but the Hornets still went down, Sheffield would love to avoid that.

Sheffield United Oliver Burke scores against Manchester United

Let’s talk about Manchester City shall we? They have had their fair share of injury woes and they currently have their most influential player, Kevin De Bruyne out but they can take solace in the form of German machine, Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden.

Defensively, there’s something to talk about, the duo of Ruben Dias and John Stones have kept the highest number of clean sheet in the league when playing together, considering the fact that the latter was a forgotten man and even being considered for outright sale in the summer, the resurgence is worth applauding.

Sheffield’s trip to the Etihad is coming at a time everyone love to see it, they aren’t low in confidence as they were at the start of the season and certainly won’t lie there and be beaten, not many would bat eyelid if City beat the Blades but the internet would be broken again if the reverse happens.

Sheffield will have to take their chances whenever they come, they won’t get many, they won’t see too much of the ball and they won’t see too many errors to benefit from but who says they can’t hope?

For the Citizens, it’s a huge surprise that they haven’t considered signing a striker in the current window to ease the pressure on the underperforming Gabriel Jesus, it must be Sergio Aguero’s last season with Manchester City, he hasn’t played much owing to injury and Pep Guardiola won’t rush him.

Riyad Mahrez can flourish in games like this but Raheem Sterling, a man on form will be considered ahead of him, whoever gets the nod to start will definitely do the job but anything short of a convincing victory will be a shocker in this fixture.