Paul Merson predicts Man Utd vs Man City, admits what wouldn’t surprise him

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Manchester United will be taking on Manchester City this weekend, and now Paul Merson has issued a damning prediction.

Two sides with plenty of wins in 2024 will face off this Sunday as Manchester United head to the Etihad to face Manchester City.

Despite recent negativity around several players and the manager, Erik ten Hag, United have lost just one game in 2024.

Due to this, with the likes of Diogo Dalot and Andre Onana in seriously good form, confidence will be high of a result being grabbed.

This confidence isn’t shared by everyone, however, with Paul Merson predicting United to have a torrid time.

Paul Merson predicts a horrid afternoon for Manchester United

Writing in his weekly predictions column on SportsKeeda, Merson has admitted he has little confidence in United getting anything from this game.

He wrote: “If Rasmus Hojlund was fit, I’d have given Manchester United a chance in this game as the away side would have had a lot of pace in attack with the Danish striker playing alongside Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford.

“Now that Hojlund is out injured, I think it would be one-way traffic in favour of the home side. I actually think Manchester United are going to the Etihad Stadium in damage-limitation mode – so I’m going to be kind and go for a 3-0 home win but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a lot worse.

“I personally think Liverpool’s game against Forest is a harder one to call than this one, so I’m going for a comfortable home win.”

Rasmus Hojlund’s absence is absolutely huge for Erik ten Hag

We’ve seen it in the past two games clearly, but United are a completely different team without Hojlund.

The Danish forward is vital to the team, with his work up front setting the precedent throughout the team.

Without him, United have looked toothless and lacked real presence up front.

The only way Ten Hag can attempt to replace this impact is by throwing Scott McTominay up front. However, even this is likely not enough to avoid a seemingly inevitable defeat this weekend.