It’s the annual curtain raiser in English soccer with the Community Shield. This year, we’re treated to a Manchester derby between Manchester City and Manchester United.
Last year we saw City keep hold of their Premier League title, while United rescued a poor season by beating Saturday’s opponents in the FA Cup final.
Make sure you read our free betting picks to see our Manchester City vs Manchester United prediction and best bet.
Manchester United vs Manchester City picks and predictions
My best bet:
Manchester United to win (+390 at Betano)
My analysis
The Premier League is still a week away but the Community Shield opens the top-level English season on Saturday with Man City vs Man Utd. These two fierce rivals always produce interesting games and it’s going to be a huge matchup with both Pep Guardiola and Erik ten Hag hoping to start the season off well.
City are odds-on favorites for a reason. They won the Premier League again last season, finishing eight positions higher than Man Utd and accumulating 50% more points than their rivals. With that in mind, it’s easy to see why they’re expected to win but at +390 there is big value on a Manchester United win.
The last time these two teams met was in May at Wembley. That day we saw Man Utd upset the odds with a 2-1 win over City, with goals from Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho. We saw that day that United could match them and performed well as they sealed the win.
Then there’s the summer that both teams have had. For Man City, they’ve signed just one player, Savio from Troyes. The young Brazilian is highly rated but at 20 years old he’s one for the future and is unlikely to be a key member of the team until later in the season at the earliest. On the flip side, they’re selling Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid and he won’t feature in this game. They’ve also struggled in preseason, with many players unable to take part in their US tour. They won just one of their four preseason games and many players come into this without having played a minute of preseason yet and might not be ready for kickoff.
City, like United, will be missing some key players who reached the final of Euro 2024. For United, it deprives them of two starters in Kobbie Mainoo and Luke Shaw but for City, they lose Rodri, Phil Foden, John Stones, and Kyle Walker. The loss of Rodri and Foden in particular will cause them serious issues.
United’s injury list is already mounting with new signing Leny Yoro joining Rasmus Hojlund on the treatment table but they come into this with more of their key players available. United are a big price at +390 and with the aforementioned problems for City, as well as what we saw from them last season in terms of starting slow, we have to take the big odds..
Manchester United vs Manchester City same-game parlay (SGP)
Man United moneyline
Both teams to score
Marcus Rashford 1+ shot
In addition to our best bet for the game, we’re also going to back Both Teams to Score. So far in preseason, we’ve seen a total of 22 goals in four Man City games, with both teams scoring in every single game. There have also been 13 goals in four Man Utd warm-up games. There’s also a form for BTTS landing, with it coming in across five of their past six meetings.
The final leg of the Same-Game Parlay is for Marcus Rashford to have one or more shots. It doesn’t need to be on target, we just need to see the 26-year-old shoot. He had a poor season last year and it’s make-or-break for him this campaign. He’ll either start out wide or potentially with Holjund’s injury, down the middle. He averaged 1.9 shots per game in the Premier League last season and should replicate that at Wembley.
Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.
Manchester United vs Manchester City odds
 Manchester United |
 Manchester City |
|
|---|---|---|
| +400 | Moneyline | -175 |
| +350 | Draw | +350 |
| Over 2.5 (-200) | Total | Under 2.5 (+162) |
Odds as of 8-9
Manchester United vs Manchester City game info
| Location: | Wembley Stadium, London, England |
| Date: | Saturday, 8-10-2024 |
| Time: | 10:00 a.m. ET |
| TV: | NBC, FUBOTV |
| Weather: | Partly Cloudy |
Manchester United vs Manchester City key injuries
Manchester United: Hojlund (Out), Yoro (Out), Evans (Questionable), Lindelof (Questionable), Magure (Questionable).
Manchester City: Ederson (Questionable), Kabore (Questionable), Rodri (Questionable).
Not intended for use in MA.
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