Top meets bottom in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon as Manchester City welcome Sheffield United to the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola's men hit West Bromwich Albion for five to return to the top of the table, and they remained on their perch after the Blades marched to a shock 2-1 victory over Manchester United.
Match preview
© Reuters
One could argue that it is already Manchester City's title to lose, with Guardiola's side embarking on a remarkable winning run to lead the way as the spring approaches.
The Citizens have now taken the spoils in their last 11 matches across all competitions - with seven of those coming in the Premier League - and they needed no second invitation to stamp their authority on a troubled West Brom side on Tuesday evening.
Joao Cancelo, Riyad Mahrez, Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan (2) all struck at The Hawthorns, with the latter now boasting seven goals from his last eight Premier League outings, having recovered from an underwhelming start to the season.
Guardiola's men now sit one point clear of bitter rivals Man United, who have played a game more, at the top of the rankings - no mean feat considering that Sergio Aguero has more or less been out for the season while Kevin De Bruyne is also facing a spell on sidelines.
The absence of De Bruyne could certainly be felt when Man City take on the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Arsenal next month, but for now, the visit of Sheffield United represents a prime opportunity for the league leaders to register their sixth win - and clean sheet - in succession on home soil.
© Reuters
However, Sheffield United have already taken down one Manchester giant away from home this week, with Wednesday's 2-1 win over Man United ensuring that Man City would head into this bout at the top of the pile.
The Blades' goals came from unlikely sources in Kean Bryan and Oliver Burke, who netted either side of a Harry Maguire header, and incredibly, Sheffield United have now won four out of their last five games in all competitions.
The likes of Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes were silenced by a Blades defence marshalled by Phil Jagielka, who at the ripe old age of 38 put in one of the performances of his career at The Theatre of Dreams.
Wednesday's historic win does not change the fact that Chris Wilder's men are still bottom of the pile and 10 points adrift of safety, but at the very least, it should give the Bramall Lane faithful a sense of renewed hope heading into the business end of the season.
Kyle Walker struck the only goal against his former club as Man City won 1-0 at Bramall Lane earlier in the season, and Sheffield United are yet to keep a clean sheet away from home in any competition this term.
Manchester City Premier League form: WWWWWW
Manchester City form (all competitions): WWWWWW
Sheffield United Premier League form: LLLWLW
Sheffield United form (all competitions): LWWLWW
Team News
© Reuters
Man City talisman Aguero remains in self-isolation after testing positive for coronavirus, while De Bruyne is expected to remain in the treatment room for at least a month with a hamstring injury.
Nathan Ake's disrupted start to life at the Etihad continues as he struggles to shake off a muscular problem, but the Dutchman would barely have a chance of demoting Ruben Dias or John Stones to the bench in their current form.
Walker recovered from a hip problem to make the bench against West Brom, and the right-back should return against his boyhood club here, meaning that Cancelo could occupy the opposite flank.
It would be incredibly harsh to drop Jagielka after his exemplary performance against Man United, but with John Egan returning from suspension, the veteran could be demoted to the substitutes.
It remains to be seen if Kean Bryan will play a part against his former club after he lasted just 53 minutes of Wednesday's win, so Max Lowe is ready to step in if needed.
Enda Stevens, Ben Osborn, Jack Robinson and Oli McBurnie are all expected to miss out through injury, while Burke will hope to have done enough to earn a start at the Etihad.
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Dias, Stones, Cancelo; Rodri, Gundogan, Silva; Mahrez, Sterling, Foden
Sheffield United possible starting lineup:
Ramsdale; Egan, Ampadu, Basham; Baldock, Norwood, Fleck, Lundstram, Lowe; McGoldrick, Burke
We say: Manchester City 3-0 Sheffield United
Guardiola's men were indebted to the Blades in midweek, but any lasting affection between the two parties will cease to exist once the first whistle is blown at the Etihad. City will pay Sheffield United the respect that they deserve, but the hosts will simply be focused on the task at hand and this will probably be a step too far for Wilder's men, so a routine home win is the only outcome that we can envisage.
Top betting tip
Video prediction
Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Manchester City win with a probability of 84.64%. A draw had a probability of 10.6% and a win for Sheffield United had a probability of 4.74%.
The most likely scoreline for a Manchester City win was 2-0 with a probability of 12.63%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 3-0 (12.43%) and 4-0 (9.17%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (5.05%), while for a Sheffield United win it was 0-1 (1.71%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 8.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Manchester City would win this match.
