After entering October, Manchester City continued to advance in the Premier League and the Champions League, winning 7:1 against Stoke City in the eighth round, 3:0 against Burnley in the ninth round, 3:0 against West Bromwich Albion in the tenth round, 3:1 against Arsenal in the eleventh round, and 2:0 against Leicester City in the twelfth round...

Before we knew it, Manchester City's winning streak has reached 10 games, and judging from their performance, this winning streak will probably continue.

No one knows where Manchester City's limit is! But their neighbor Manchester United is slowly falling behind.

In the eighth round, in the new year's Red Devils Derby, Manchester United fought against their old rival Liverpool away from home and both sides suffered heavy losses.

The two sides tied 0:0 after 90 minutes, and no one was in a good situation.

After the game, Liverpool's league ranking further dropped to eighth place, nearly 10 points behind the top Manchester City.

Manchester United fell 2 points behind Manchester City because of this draw.

Originally we were only at a disadvantage in terms of goal difference, but now we are also behind in terms of points.

And this backwardness is still expanding!

In the 9th round, Manchester United lost 1:2 to newly promoted Huddersfield away, which was a big upset and widened the gap between them and Manchester City to 5 points! In the 11th round, Manchester United lost again in the red and blue battle against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, which widened the gap between them and Manchester City to 8 points! After only 11 rounds of the league, they are already 8 points behind. What a desperate gap! The league has not even finished half of the schedule, and Manchester United seems to have withdrawn from the championship battle.

This has made countless Red Devils fans very disappointed. This is the fifth year that they have missed the championship since Ferguson retired.

A few years ago, those fans who were full of confidence in the team and firmly believed that Manchester United was the best team on the planet, have seen their self-confidence constantly hit as Manchester United has continued to decline in recent years.

At this point, some people have begun to accept the fact that Manchester United is no longer a top team.

…

In fact, there is no need for Manchester United fans to be so pessimistic, as their ranking in the standings is not bad.

Although eight points behind Manchester City, Manchester United still firmly secures the second place in the Premier League.

After winning two consecutive home games 4:1 against Newcastle United and 1:0 against Brighton in the 12th and 13th rounds, Manchester United further consolidated its position and widened the gap with Chelsea, who is third in the standings, to 3 points.

But unfortunately, Manchester City won again in this round, and Manchester United failed to narrow the gap between the two teams.

Due to Manchester City's hot form this season and their strong performance in the past few seasons, the outside world feels that there is not much suspense about who will win the Premier League title this year.

Compared to who will win the Premier League, they are more curious about how long Manchester City's winning streak can last. As of the 13th round, Manchester City's league winning streak has reached 11 games, which has entered the top ten winning streaks in Premier League history.

But this is not the limit for Manchester City. They may have a chance to break Arsenal's 14-game winning streak set in the 2003-2003 season.

Last year, Chelsea was very close to breaking this record, but ultimately failed and their 13-game winning streak came to an end, which was a pity.

And now, Manchester City is only four wins away from breaking this record.

In the 14th round of the Premier League, Manchester City defeated Southampton 2:1 at home, extending their winning streak to 12 games.

In the fifteenth round, Manchester City defeated West Ham United with the same score, and the winning streak has accumulated to 13 games, tying the record set by Chelsea last season!

At this time, almost all the fans in the Premier League are paying attention to Manchester City's next game - the Manchester derby! If Manchester City can win the next game, they will surpass Chelsea and tie with Arsenal that year.

But Manchester United is not a gift boy, Old Trafford is their home ground, facing the city's mortal enemy, they will never let the other side win at home! Manchester United, who have won four consecutive games, are still 8 points behind Manchester City, but if they can beat Manchester City in this game, the gap between the two sides will be narrowed to 5 points.

By then, Manchester United will have hope of competing for the league title again, and ending the opponent's 13-game winning streak will inevitably be a big blow to Manchester City's morale.

It is possible that after this defeat, Manchester City will never recover, giving Manchester United a chance to catch up.

Given the importance of this game, countless news media reported extensively on the match between the two teams before the game.

This key battle has already attracted the attention of fans all over the UK before it even started.

Not only British fans are paying attention to this game, but many teams and fans across Europe are also silently following the outcome of this game.

Manchester United is the second in the Premier League this season, and Manchester City is the first. Such a battle for the top spot should reflect the highest competitive level of the Premier League.

As both Manchester City clubs have won all their games in the Champions League, they have become the favorites to win the Champions League this season.

This has caused some of the top clubs aiming for the Champions League to pay special attention to the league performances of Manchester City and Manchester United.

Especially Manchester City, their form this season is completely different from last season.

They are in an extremely hot state, and anyone who encounters them will tremble.

Given that Manchester City has remained unbeaten on multiple fronts this season, many teams are wondering if anyone can find a way to deal with them and break their unbeaten streak.

Among the many followers, Real Madrid is obviously the one that cares the most.

After all, they are the defenders of the title this year.

…

December 11, Old Trafford.

Half an hour before the game, the stadium was already packed with people.

With the team's recovery this season and the boost in morale and confidence brought by last season's treble, Manchester United's market has improved significantly this season.

In several home games this season, the stands at Old Trafford were almost full.

You should know that Old Trafford is the largest stadium in the entire Premier League and can accommodate 76,000 spectators.

Manchester is not a big city and there are not many people living here. In addition, there are rivals like Manchester City in the same city to share the fans. It is difficult to fill the stands of more than 70,000 people with local fans alone.

Therefore, Manchester United has always been following an international route, building international influence by achieving good results in the league and the Champions League and actively promoting the team's image and brand, thereby attracting international fans to watch the games.

In the entire Premier League, Old Trafford is the stadium with the largest number of international fans. Many people even travel to the Premier League just to watch a Manchester United game at Old Trafford.

But since Ferguson retired and the older generation of Red Devils gradually died out, the number of international fans has begun to decline rapidly.

Especially with the strong rise of Manchester City next door and three championships in three years, a large number of international fans have been attracted to the Etihad Stadium.

After all, compared to Manchester United, which lacks star power and has a poor record, Manchester City, the new giant, is leading in all aspects and is naturally more attractive.

Most people admire the strong and will support whoever is strong.

In the past four years, there is no doubt that Manchester City is bigger than Manchester United, so it is normal that Manchester United's football market is affected.

But for this game, whether it is Manchester City fans or Manchester United fans, if they want to watch the game, they have to come to Old Trafford, so tickets at Old Trafford are hard to come by. Scalpers have driven up the ticket prices, but there are still many fanatical fans who pay for tickets without hesitation!

Perhaps out of respect for the opponent, or perhaps because Manchester City's wins in the past two games were a bit thrilling, Guardiola did not use a 3142 formation in this game, but instead arranged a traditional 433 formation.

Compared with Guardiola's parallel formation, Mourinho still uses the old trick, 4231!

I can’t even remember how many times the two have competed against each other. When they were not in the same league, they competed in the Champions League.

After Mourinho joined Real Madrid, the two will not only compete in the Champions League, but also fight in the league.

I thought that after both of them left La Liga, the frequent competitions would come to an end.

But fate is so interesting that the two came to the same league again, and were in charge of a pair of mortal enemies.

Read the error-free version on 6Ⅹ9Ⅹ bookⅩ bar! 6Ⅹ9 book bar first publishes a novel.

Before the game, Mourinho's face was tense and he showed no emotion. He walked over to shake hands with Guardiola with an expressionless face.

Guardiola had almost the same expression on his face. The two of them were too lazy to even exchange greetings. After hurriedly shaking hands, they turned around and returned to their coaching seats without looking back.

With the referee's whistle, this focus battle that attracted countless fans officially began.

After the opening, Manchester United launched a fierce attack.

Their two wingers came on aggressively and frequently launched attacks on the flanks, trying to create opportunities for striker Lukaku in the penalty area.

But Manchester City's defense was excellent, Lukaku was completely restricted and couldn't find a chance to receive the ball.

Seeing that the forwards were ineffective, Manchester United immediately changed their strategy. They no longer passed the ball from the bottom, but tried to cooperate in the flanks and let the midfielders who came in from behind complete the shot.

This move had a good effect, and Rashford, Matic and others all got the chance to shoot.

It’s a pity that the two seemed to have forgotten to bring their shooting boots, and their shots were a bit off target.

But in this round of attack, Manchester City's full-back Walker received a yellow card for a tactical foul, which may have a far-reaching impact on the situation of the game.

The Red Devils fans who came to the stadium created a huge wave of noise, and used their blood-boiling cheers to support the team in launching wave after wave of attacks.

Mourinho had obviously studied Manchester City's playing style in the past few games. He restricted Manchester City's two full-backs by attacking on the flanks, preventing them from participating in the attack.

This made it difficult for Manchester City's counterattacks on the flanks to be effective due to insufficient numbers.

In the middle, Manchester United's strangulation tactics were also very successful.

Through constant fouls and high-intensity physical confrontations, the opponent's first pass is restricted, preventing the opponent from playing smooth cooperation, thus making it impossible for the opponent to organize an efficient attack.

It is not enough to do anything less than this. Manchester City's winger Mbappe has both speed and impact.

As long as they give the opponent a chance, the response they will most likely be a loss of the ball.

Real Madrid has already demonstrated this in the Champions League final.

Therefore, Manchester United worked particularly hard to defend the middle and restricted Mbappe very well, not giving him any chance to speed up.

Mbappe finally enjoyed the treatment of a superstar, but such treatment did not seem to be a good thing for him.

Guardiola saw through the opponent's intentions and quickly made adjustments.

He asked Lin Quan and David Silva to switch positions, with Lin Quan, who had better ball protection and breakthrough abilities, going in front, and letting David Silva move back to reduce the opponent's pressure on him, so that he could complete the pass and organizational work more conveniently.

As David Silva gets older, his explosive power, which was not very strong to begin with, has further declined, and he is becoming increasingly unable to play as a winger.

Therefore, Guardiola made some adjustments in terms of his position and role on the field. Most of the time, he moved him back to reduce the pressure he faced and allowed him to more easily display his strong passing ability.

Similarly, De Bruyne's position was also appropriately moved back, allowing midfielder Kante to move forward, and the three of them formed a triangle position.

De Bruyne and David Silva are two different kinds of passers. De Bruyne is very strong in both short and long passes, has first-class creativity, and can often deliver some incredible passes.

David Silva has excellent short passing ability and is better at protecting the ball than De Bruyne. He can take on part of the work of holding the ball forward and can play small-scale passing and cutting with nearby teammates. His long passing ability is not outstanding, which was originally the job of Kroos.

But after Kroos left, Manchester City adjusted their style of play, with long passes to forwards becoming less and less frequent, and the team is no longer dependent on this style of play.

After Guardiola completed the adjustment, Manchester United's strangling effect in the middle was no longer so effective.

The two organizers were positioned too deep, and Manchester United did not dare to deploy too many troops to the frontcourt to press the opponent in a high position, because this would easily cause the overall formation to be out of touch, especially when Lin Quan and Mbappe were still in their own half, it would be very dangerous to reduce the troops in the backcourt.

But if the restrictions on De Bruyne and David Silva are reduced, the two will be able to play to their strengths more easily and put Manchester United under greater defensive pressure.

It is difficult to say whether this choice is right or wrong. From Mourinho's perspective, it seems reasonable for him to make such a choice.

But the situation on the field was gradually turning unfavorable to Manchester United. After 30 minutes, Manchester City gradually took the initiative in the game. Their attacks frequently threatened Manchester United's penalty area, and Stones made a very threatening header.

If De Gea hadn't performed well and miraculously saved the ball, Manchester United would have fallen behind by now.

But what is coming will come, and you can’t avoid it.

In the 43rd minute, De Bruyne took a corner kick from the right side, Van Dijk headed the ball in the penalty area, overpowering Lukaku, and David Silva, who was unmarked, volleyed the ball with his left foot from close range before De Gea and scored!

Manchester City 1:0 Manchester United! (End of this chapter)