Man City vs Man Utd: Ederson vs De Gea and other key Manchester Derby head-to-heads
It's a crunch Manchester Derby today as Manchester City need to respond to Liverpool's 1-0 win over West Ham on Saturday night. Manchester United, meanwhile, will go some way to consolidating a top-four spot with victory at the Etihad Stadium, where they have won four of their last five meetings with City.
Here, we run through some key head-to-heads that will help determine the victor today.
Ederson vs David De Gea
Ederson has kept more clean sheets (15) than any other Premier League goalkeeper this season, doing so in just 26 matches, a fine record for the Brazilian. He has failed to keep a clean sheet in just four of 12 leaugue games at the Etihad Stadium as he seeks to land the Golden Glove award, though he is yet to keep a clean sheet against Manchester United at the Etihad.
Only Illan Meslier (101) has made more saves than David De Gea (96) in the Premier League this season and the Spaniard looks back to his shotstopping best. While he has kept just seven clean sheets in England's top tier this term, De Gea's fine saving ability means United remain in what a shout of a Champions League finish.
John Stones vs Harry Maguire
With Ruben Dias absent, John Stones is set to line up alongside Aymeric Laporte at the heart of the Manchester City defence. It could have been that Stones feature at right-back, but the England international should now make just his fifth league start of the season at the heart of the defence.
He'll look to outshine compatriot Harry Maguire in the Manchester Derby. Maguire has come under staunch criticism this season on the back of some sub-par performances in the United backline, however with Raphael Varane potentially absent, he is set to feature alongside Victor Lindelof in defence.
Kevin De Bruyne vs Bruno Fernandes
The two creative stars in the ranks for either side, injuries have restricted Kevin De Bruyne to just 15 starts this term, while two assists is a far cry from the 20 he managed in 2019/20, the Belgian has still bagged seven times for Pep Guardiola's side. A return of 3.1 key passes per 90 is more than any other player in the Premier League this season, so it's only a matter of time before that assist tally rises.
Bruno Fernandes (3.0) ranks just behind De Bruyne for the most key passes per 90 in England's top tier this term, and he at least has six assists to his name. However, it is feasible to suggest that return in itself should be higher considering only Trent Alexander-Arnold (16) has created more clear-cut goalcoring chances than Fernandes (14) in the 2021/22 Premier League campaign.
Jack Grealish vs Jadon Sancho
The two high-profile Premier League movers over the summer, it's fair to say both Manchester City and Manchester United fans will have expected more from Jack Grealish and Jadon Sancho this season. Grealish at least scored in City's 2-0 FA Cup win over Peterborough in midweek, enough to make the FA Cup team of the week, but two goals and two assists from 17 Premier League outings isn't a great return for the England international.
Sancho, too, has just two goals and two assists to his name, the latter both coming in a man of the match display at Leeds last month. Having struggled for game time under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Sancho is at least earning more minutes with Ralf Rangick at the helm and there are signs that he is beginning to justify the hefty price tag. United fans would love nothing more than to see another man of the match display against his former side City.
