Paul Merson believes Manchester United will beat Manchester City.
Manchester City’s John Stones in action with Sunderland’s Lynden Gooch
Manchester United take on Manchester City this weekend in the biggest Premier League game of the season so far.
Both teams have 100 per cent records heading into the fixture, which pits old La Liga rivals Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola against each other in the dugout.
Pundit Paul Merson is tipping Manchester United to win the game, arguing that suspended striker Sergio Aguero is too big a miss for Manchester City, and admitting he fears that John Stones could be embarrassed at the hands of the Red Devils’ new talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Manchester United’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Merson said he predicts a 2-1 win for United, adding: “It will be interesting to see how John Stones gets on against Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
“Stones has the potential to be a top player but he’s inexperienced and is going up against someone who has been there, done it and got the t-shirt.
“We saw what Zlatan did to a player like Ryan Shawcross on his England debut when he was playing for Sweden.
“I expect Man Utd to just pip this game without Aguero.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates scoring the third goal for Sweden to complete his hat trick
The match Merson refers to was the friendly game between England and Sweden in Stockholm in 2012, in which Zlatan terrorised the Three Lions’ defence.
Ryan Shawcross’ international career never recovered, and John Stones will have to be at his very best to cope with the striker, based on how Ibrahimovic has started so far, with three goals in three Premier League games.
Manchester United’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores their first goal
Zlatan has also played under Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and had a public falling out with the Spaniard during their time at Barcelona, and will be extra motivated to prove a point.
United will feel anything less than a win will be a disappointing result given that they are at home and this is an early chance to lay down a marker and record a win over their rivals.
They won the last Manchester derby at the Etihad earlier this year, with Marcus Rashford netting the winning goal.
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