With both sides stuck in a slump how seriously will Mourinho and Guardiola take their EFL Cup tie when Manchester United host Manchester City at 8pm on Sky Sports 1?

Compared to the season’s first Manc derby, where both United and City were coming off of an unbeaten start to 2016/17, this cup fixture finds both sides in a spot of trouble. Since losing that September match United have won just once in the league, an emphatic rout of Leicester, while racking up humiliating losses to Watford and Chelsea and draws against Stoke and Liverpool. City, on the other hand, remain at the top of the table despite failing to find a win in their last 5 games, a period that has encompassed a domestic defeat to Tottenham alongside a thrilling draw against Celtic and a horrific away loss to Barcelona, both in the Champions League.



So, Wednesday’s game not only has the added spice of being a derby between bitter rivals (both geographically and managerially), but of being a chance for one of the sides to spark a sorely needed recovery. It’s rare that an EFL Cup match accrues so much weigh, especially at such a relatively early point in the competition, and Mourinho and Guardiola face the difficult decision between actively chasing a win on Wednesday and trying to keep something in reserve for their arguably more important Premier League and European fixtures in the coming week.

Sergio Aguero will likely be looking to get back in Guardiola’s good books with a strong performance, and heads to Old Trafford with a Super Mega PGM of 30-36, followed by Kelechi Iheanacho at 21-26 and Nolito at 15-19. As for United, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who sits at a Super Mega PGM of 32-38, will be hoping to get revenge on ‘the Professor’ with his first goal since the end of September, while Marcus Rashford, at 18-22, while Marcus Rashford is at 18-22.

For the litany of reasons listed above Wednesday’s cup tie is incredibly hard to read, and may well end up coming down to the respective managers’ opinions of the competition’s worth in the larger landscape of the season. With that in mind Spreadex are offering a Manchester United/Manchester City Goal Supremacy spread of 0-0.2 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.6-2.8.