Who’ll win the Manchester Derby?

European football returned to our screens in midweek and we had some highly entertaining matches in the last round of 2024. We now head into yet another busy weekend of domestic fixtures with Christmas just around the corner.

That means differing things for different countries as most of the top leagues across Europe will break for a couple of weeks but, by contrast, the British leagues will ramp up the amount of games played. For now though, we have an average of two rounds of fixtures until the mid season winter break.

The midweek European action means that none of the major teams will play on Friday night, although there is one match apiece from Spain, Italy, Germany and France’s top divisions. There is no early kick-off this weekend in the PL, so we need to wait until 4pm for England’s top division to burst into life with four matches being played, including leading teams Liverpool and Arsenal, who are at home to Fulham and Everton respectively. Struggling teams Wolves and Ipswich face off against each other in what can be viewed as a six-pointer, despite it being so early in the season. One of this season’s surprise teams, Nottingham Forest, will play against Aston Villa in the late kick-off, with both teams equal on 25 points. 

Second and third placed teams Marseille and Monaco are both in action in Ligue 1 on Saturday. Over in Germany, leaders Bayern play in the Saturday afternoon slot against Mainz and last year’s champions Bayer Leverkusen play away from home to Augsburg. Napoli will be looking to get back to winning ways in the late afternoon match in Serie A when they travel to Udinese and Juventus will expect all three points at home to Venezia. There are four matches played in La Liga on Saturday including Real Madrid’s visit to Rayo Vallecano in the evening. 

The highlight on Sunday is certainly the Manchester derby with much at stake for both of these out of form clubs. It is City that host bitter rivals United with both teams only managing 3 wins in the last ten matches between them. Brighton host Crystal Palace, Chelsea play Brentford in a West London derby and Southampton welcome Tottenham to the south coast. There are five matches to be played in France’s top flight with the highlight being PSG versus Lyon in the evening. Bundesliga action includes Stuttgart’s trip to Heidenheim, Dortmund against Hoffenheim and finally, the match of the weekend from Germany, RB Leipzig versus Eintracht Frankfurt. There are five Serie A matches on Sunday with the likes of AS Roma and AC Milan both in action. Over in Scotland, it is the League Cup final on Sunday between Rangers and Celtic as both Glasgow giants vie for the first piece of silverware of the season. In La Liga in Spain, Atlético Madrid get the ball moving with their match against Getafe followed by the likes of Real Sociedad and Real Betis in the afternoon and finally Barcelona against Leganes in the evening. 

Monday night football in England is Bournemouth versus West Ham, the second week in a row that West Ham will play on Monday evening. The match of the day though is surely Lazio against Inter, two teams tied on 31 points in the top five of the Serie A. Elsewhere there are matches from Portugal and Türkiye to round off a busy weekend.

Manchester City vs Manchester United

The highlight of the week from the top division in England is without a doubt the Manchester derby on Sunday. This season both teams are struggling although the problems faced by City are somewhat unexpected. Manchester United struggling is hardly news over recent years but this year has been even worse than expected. Manchester City dropped points once again last weekend when they were held to a 2-2 draw by lowly Crystal Palace, a result which leaves them eight points behind leaders Liverpool having played a game more. Manager Pep Guardiola has already written off his side’s chances of retaining the league title this season, but a defeat in this match will surely mean they are out of the running. Injuries to key players has certainly played its part with key men such as De Bruyne, Rodri and Stones all missing many matches. The fact they have conceded 21 goals already is alarming, more than any other team in the top five. 

Manchester United’s season seems to go from one crisis to another, this week they dismissed Sporting Director Dan Ashworth, having only signed him in the summer. They continue to struggle for results and new manager Ruben Amorim has had a very short honeymoon period. He seems far from impressed by his squad of players, but it remains to be seen what he can do to turn around the fortunes of this struggling giant. United find themselves in thirteenth position going into this match, but only eight points off top four, so it is a very congested league. Two wins from their last five will not fill them with confidence though and the 3-2 home defeat to Nottingham Forest will have left fans with their heads in their hands. 

City got the better of United in their early season meeting in the Community Shield whereas United won the FA Cup final at the end of last season. Overall, City have won seven of the last ten with United winning the other three. 

RB Leipzig vs Eintracht Frankfurt

The final Bundesliga match of the weekend is a clash between fourth placed RB Leipzig and second placed Eintracht Frankfurt, a match with much at stake for both teams. Bayern Munich look back to their dominant best in the league this season but the battle for the top four is well and truly on so the chance to take points off a team vying for one of those positions is certainly worth taking. RB Leipzig go into this match not in the best of form though as they only have one win in their last five matches in the league. That win did come last time out at least, an away victory over Holstein Kiel which meant they hung on to their top four position. They are the lowest scorers in the top six so they will be looking for more from the likes of Openda and Sesko. 

Despite being above their opponents in the league, the visitors go into this match as underdogs. They are in better form, with four wins in their last five matches although the draw last week against Augsburg will be viewed as a disappointment. The 33 goals scored is second only to leaders Bayern and Omar Marmoush is second in the goalscoring charts to Harry Kane with thirteen goals overall.  The team from Frankfurt will be looking for revenge here as they were dumped out of the Pokal Cup by RB Leipzig last week, losing 3-0 on what was a disappointing day.

Draws are common between these two teams with four of the last ten ending in a stalemate. RB Leipzig have won three and Frankfurt have also won three so there really is nothing to choose between these two teams in recent history.

Lazio vs Inter

The match of the weekend in Italy’s top division will take place on Monday evening as Inter travel to the capital to take on Lazio. There is very little to choose between the two teams so far this season, both go into this match on 31 points with the visitors having the better goal difference. Lazio have four wins from the last five matches and notched up an impressive away win over Napoli last weekend, a big boost following defeat against Parma in the previous round. Despite being at home they will be underdogs in this match with the defending champions having a good record against them. 

Inter notched up a 3-1 win over Parma last week and have not lost a match in any competition since losing to AC Milan back in September. That impressive run includes 11 wins from their last 13 matches, which explains why they are favourites to win this match too. They are now only three points off the top of the table with a game in hand over the top two so a win in this tricky match will give them a very good chance of being top of the table soon. Marcus Thuram is second in the overall goalscoring charts with ten league goals so far this season. 

Inter have won five of the last ten clashes between these two teams with Lazio managing three wins.

Celtic vs Rangers

The 2024 League Cup final is yet another Old Firm clash as the two dominant forces of Scottish Football clash at Hampden Park on Sunday afternoon. Celtic will no doubt go into this match as favourites as they hold an impressive eleven point lead over Rangers in the table. The fact that Rangers are not even in second spot, but are also behind Aberdeen, illustrates what a poor season it has been for them. Celtic’s success has been based on an excellent defensive record, with only four league goals conceded and they thrashed Aberdeen in the semi-finals, winning 6-0. In fact, the only defeat suffered by Celtic so far this season has been at the hands of Dortmund in the CL, a 7-1 thrashing in Germany. They have nine wins from their last ten matches in all competitions and will be confident of picking up another piece of silverware on Sunday. 

Rangers, by contrast, have not had a great season by any standards, although they are unbeaten in their last eight matches. They are having a good time of it in Europe at least and are currently in eighth spot in the revamped EL, having won three of their five matches played so far. Their last three league matches have been excellent, resulting in a 10-0 aggregate scoreline in their favour as they attempt to cut the gap to Celtic at the top of the league. A win in this cup final will give them more confidence and allow manager Philippe Clement more time to turn the season around.  

Celtic have certainly had the better of things of late and they have won eight of the last ten meetings between the two win Rangers only managing a solitary win, in the league in May 2023.

PS: Odds might have changed since the writing and publication of this article.

Last updated: 12.12.24