Man Utd May Somehow Be Favourites for Weekend Manchester Derby

Manchester United are not favourites to win this weekend’s Manchester derby against local rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford, which has the bizarre effect of creating a degree of expectation around Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team because of they have often handled similar games.

Over the past two years, United have often given their very best performances as underdogs, to the point it has become relatively normal. Usually, it is when they have nothing to lose, no pressure, and the smart money is on them probably losing.

Early in Solskjaer’s reign, United beat Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup fifth round within days of being played off the pitch by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

A few weeks later, they pulled off an astonishing history-making comeback against PSG in Paris without a number of first-team players and a bench full of teenagers.

Last season, United started with a 4-0 against Chelsea on the opening day of the Premier League campaign off the back of an utterly dreadful end to 2018/19. That performance was then nowhere to be seen in easier follow-up games against Wolves, Crystal Palace and Southampton.

A draw against Liverpool last October, the first time the eventual champions dropped any points, was straight after a pathetic defeat against Newcastle.

Last December, United beat both Tottenham and City three days apart, having just been held to draws by Aston Villa and Sheffield United.

When there was expectation ahead of a big game, because of their record in such contests, United were comprehensively dismantled by City in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final last December. Yet with the tie basically over after just 90 minutes, they then went on to win the rather meaningless return leg at the Etihad Stadium. Figure that one out.

It has been a continuous pattern. United responded to a frustrating draw against Everton in March by outgunning City at the Etihad again in the final domestic game before lockdown.

Even this season it has kept happening. United endured a woeful start in the Premier League, but when presented with a very tough Champions League group put together back-to-back wins against PSG and RB Leipzig, thrashing the latter 5-0. But when it came to facing Istanbul Basaksehir, United wilted and lost – and yet the Turks took no points from any of their other five games.

There was an expectation that, having beaten both PSG and RB Leipzig already, United would get positive results against them again to reach the last 16. That wasn’t the case and they ended up crashing out of the Champions League at the first opportunity instead.

United now go into the Manchester derby with that disappointment fresh in the memory, with a cloud hanging over Paul Pogba, with Anthony Martial horribly out of form, with a leaky defence that has kept one clean sheet in the last nine games and generally being carried by a single player.

But United have been here often enough and still seem to come out punching against the odds, against City in particular. It has created a worrying level of expectation that, actually, despite being in yet another bad spot, they will again somehow pull it out of the bag when the chips are down.

It’s not sustainable or healthy to only be surviving at a decent level when backed into a corner or on the ropes and it is truly baffling that it does happen so often.

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