Paul Merson is expecting Manchester City to record a comfortable victory when they face their rivals United this weekend.

The Sky Sports pundit has not been impressed with Erik ten Hag’s side’s start to the season and, writing in his column for Sportskeeda, he is backing the Premier League champions to get the points at Old Trafford:

“I give them [United] absolutely no chance against Manchester City. The Cityzens will have the lion’s share of possession and United will look to hit on the break, which is how I see the game being played out.”

Merson has gone with a 3-1 win for Pep Guardiola‘s men, which seems like a fair prediction, considering the recent displays from the two teams.

United have been performing worse than last season

Although City lost this fixture during ten Hag’s first campaign in charge, United have seemingly regressed during his second year at the helm of the Red Devils.

They may have won 3 of their last 4 Premier League games, but the victories against Burnley, Brentford and Sheffield United all came by a very narrow margin.

The win over Brentford, in particular, was incredibly lucky, with United needing two last-minute goals from Scott McTominay to turn a loss into three points.

City should be boosted by consecutive victories

After some concerning results before the international break, Guardiola’s team have righted the ship with two wins on the bounce versus Brighton and Young Boys.

You wouldn’t say that the Cityzens are firing on all cylinders at the moment but you would still back them to get one over United, who have looked very poor all season.

Of course, derbies can level the playing field somewhat, and it may not be as easy as Merson expects, but the away side will be favourites for the win on Sunday.

Watch this video on Shots!TV here as our pundits preview the Manchester derby