The Manchester derby is always a highlight of the Premier League calendar and Sunday's Old Trafford showdown is no different with Manchester City odds-on to beat United, who are 17/4 underdogs to repeat last season's home triumph.

Mark Langdon's Manchester United v Manchester City tips

Man City To Win And Both Teams To Score @ 9/4 
Rodri First Goalscorer each-way @ 20/1 
Jeremy Doku over 0.5 Player Assists @ 9/2 

Odds displayed were correct at the time of writing and subject to fluctuation.

Setting the scene….

United may have won this fixture last season but City got their revenge for that loss in the best way possible, beating the Red Devils in the FA Cup final en route to completing the treble when the now departed Ilkay Gundogan scored twice at Wembley to land the domestic double.

Pep Guardiola's men went on to overcome Inter Milan 1-0 in the Champions League final - courtesy of Rodri's rasping drive - to match United's success of 1999.

City go into Sunday's encounter in second place in the standings, having lost twice already this season, although United have suffered twice as many defeats and are six points adrift of their rivals down in eighth.

What	Manchester United v Manchester City, Premier League
Where	Old Trafford
When	15:30, Sunday 29th October
How to watch	Sky Sports Main Event & Sky Sports Premier League
Match odds	Man Utd 17/4, Draw 14/5, Man City 8/13

Man City To Win And Both Teams To Score @ 12/5

The difference in quality between United and City is stark and probably even greater than the current six-point margin between the neighbours in the Premier League table through nine matches.

However, there are better ways to back Guardiola's side to get more juice in the price rather than taking odds-on at Old Trafford.

Mark Langdon’s Tip:

For all of their issues, United have still scored in five of their last six matches against City so taking them to register in an away win feels sensible.

City's only away clean sheet this season came against Burnley on the opening night and they are always vulnerable to a counter attack but Erling Haaland's nine-goal Premier League tally suggests the champions can once again overcome a lack of shutouts.

Motivation may well have played a part in City's lethargic performances to start this season, having won the treble last term, but a trip to Old Trafford is likely to focus the minds of Guardiola's squad and United's most recent hat-trick of wins could hardly have been less convincing.

Scott McTominay's unlikely late double turned defeat into victory over Brentford and Diogo Dalot's thunderbolt saw off Sheffield United by the same 2-1 scoreline, despite the Blades forcing more shots on target.

Tuesday's dramatic 1-0 success over Copenhagen owed much to maligned pair Harry Maguire and Andre Onana, but it all feels unsustainable and the Red Devils could suffer their own nightmares on Halloween weekend.

Rodri First Goalscorer each-way @ 20/1

Haaland is the obvious place to look in the goalscoring markets and his hat-trick in the first derby of last season 12 months ago suggested the Norwegian was about to dominate this fixture.

However, Haaland had only 13 touches in the reverse match at Old Trafford and, by his standards, was also relatively quiet in the FA Cup final too.

Mark Langdon’s Tip:

With all eyes on Haaland, it could leave space for other City players and Rodri could be flying under the radar, particularly as he has already scored three times this season, with Guardiola giving him more opportunities to push forward following the departure of Gundogan and injury to Kevin De Bruyne.

Rodri tops the Premier League charts for passes into the final third (81) but he does love a goal in a big match too, scoring the only goal in the Champions League final last season as well as the opener in the quarter-finals against Bayern Munich.

Jeremy Doku over 0.5 Player Assists @ 9/2

One huge area of concern for United is defensively where injuries to Luke Shaw, Lisandro Martinez and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have not helped Erik ten Hag to properly protect summer signing Onana.

Wan-Bissaka was normally selected for the hardest games at right-back due to his solid defensive attributes but this would be a huge test to return despite being passed fit, whereas Dalot is much more suited to going forward and it could be a weakness exploited by City.

Mark Langdon’s Tip:

Expect Guardiola to target the United wings and Jeremy Doku could benefit by assisting a City goal.

The Belgian flyer is a dribbling demon when he gets in the mood and he has three assists in his last five games for club and country, a statistic even more impressive considering those have come in just 275 minutes of playing time.

Mark Langdon's Manchester United v Manchester City tips

Man City To Win And Both Teams To Score @ 9/4 
Rodri First Goalscorer each-way @ 20/1 
Jeremy Doku over 0.5 Player Assists @ 9/2 

Odds displayed were correct at the time of writing and subject to fluctuation.