Blue vs. Red. Pride vs. Pedigree. Rooney vs. Hart. Sterling vs. Martial. Noel Gallagher vs. Chevrolet. The Manchester Derby.
Sunday is derby day in Manchester, England and the stakes are huge. Manchester City sits atop the English Premier League with Manchester United two points behind and looking to overtake their neighbors with a win on their home grounds as the clubs meet for the 170th time.
City enters the fray without goal-machine Sergio Aguero and midfield talisman David Silva, both sidelined with injuries from their international duties. But the cabinets are far from bare for Manuel Pellegrini, as Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne and Wilfried Bony have picked up the goal scoring responsibilities for the Sky Blue. The Citizens have scored 11 goals in their last two league games and have yet to be held scoreless so far in the young Premier League season.
Wayne Rooney, the leading scorer in Manchester Derby history with 11 goals, will look to breach City’s defenses with help from wunderkind Anthony Martial and set-up wizard Juan Mata. Keeper David de Gea will anchor a defense led by Chris Smalling and Matteo Darmian. All of the action from Old Trafford can be seen on NBCSN on Sunday at 10:05 a.m. EDT.
Games Other Than The Manchester Derby
Two other derbies highlight the rest of the action from England as Chelsea make their last league visit to West Ham’s Upton Park before the Hammers move to the Olympic Stadium for next season on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. EDT on NBCSN while the Tyne-Wear derby takes place in the Northeast of England as Sunderland looks for their sixth straight victory over Newcastle United on NBCSN at 8:00 a.m. EDT on Sunday.
In Italy, Juventus welcomes Atalanta to Turin on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. EDT on beIN Sports while first and second in the table meet as AS Roma travel to Florence to face league-leaders Fiorentina at 1:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday on beIN Sports Connect (streaming).
Three teams (Barcelona, Real Madrid and Celta de Vigo) enter the weekend tied at the top of the La Liga table with 18 points. Barcelona hosts Eibar on Sunday at 1:15 p.m. EDT on beIN Sports while the other two league leaders face-off at the Estadio de Balaidos in Vigo at 10:00 a.m. EDT on Saturday.
The best matchup of the weekend in France sees top of the table PSG host Saint-Etienne on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. EDT on beIN Sports.
In the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich attempts to stretch their perfect start to ten matches as they host Koln on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. EDT on Fox Sports 2. In other action, American Fabian Johnson and Borussia Monchengladbach face third place Schalke 04 on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. EDT on Fox Sports 1.
Heading west, in Mexico, there are four weeks left in the regular season and five clubs are tied for the last playoff spot. Two of those clubs face-off in a Guadalajara derby as Chivas face Atlas on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. EDT on Azteca. Chiapas, also tied for the last playoff spot, goes on the road to face league leaders, Pumas on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. EDT on Univision Deportes. Finally, Leon looks to stop its two match losing skid when they face Puebla on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. EDT on Univision Deportes.
In the States, the MLS ends its regular season on Sunday with 10 games. The Columbus Crew take on DC United at 5:00 p.m. EDT on Fox Sports 1 while Sporting KC and LA Galaxy face-off at Sporting Park with playoff position on the line at 7:00 p.m. EDT on ESPN.
