How Man Utd’s giants can hurt Man City’s magicians

Back in November 2014, Louis van Gaal blamed the height of his players on their lack of scoring from set-pieces ahead of a Manchester derby.

They just aren’t tall enough, the 66-year-old Dutchman explained before they went on to be beaten 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium. Three years later, the tables have turned.

Jose Mourinho’s United may be looking up at Pep Guardiola’s City in the Premier League table but on the pitch at Old Trafford, it will be the other way around.

Jose Mourinho’s side may look up at City in the table but on the pitch the tables will be turned

Mourinho has packed his side with power and it is their towering height which could hurt City in Sunday’s clash.

The statistics show Guardiola’s City are the second worst in the league for winning aerial duels, beaten only to the wooden spoon by Liverpool.

Mourinho’s United, meanwhile, tend to like swinging a ball into the box.

David Moyes was mocked for his team’s tendency to cross, with them once producing a record 81 against Fulham during his time there. Though not quite as desperate or drastic, the occasional cross can have its advantages, as Mourinho knows.

This season, only Tottenham (261) have attempted more open-play crosses than United (242) in the top flight.

David Moyes was mocked for United’s tendency to cross during his tenure at Old Trafford

But United have scored six headers this season. Only Arsenal and Chelsea have scored more

And only Chelsea (9) and Arsenal (7) have scored more headed goals than them (6).

They know their strengths and City should know what is coming their way at the Theatre of Dreams.

In 6ft 4in Nemanja Matic and 6ft 3in Romelu Lukaku, Mourinho added two more giants to his imposing line-up in the summer. At 6ft 2in, Victor Linedelof was his shortest signing.

It left them with the Premier League’s third tallest squad on average with only West Brom and Watford above them.

Mourinho, however, was quick to joke when asked about this advantage at his pre-match press conference on Friday. On whether this would be a battle of United’s giants against City’s genius, the Portuguese said: ‘I think it will be easy for [Vincent] Kompany to compete against [Juan] Mata in the air.’

Indeed it would, though that is not the one-on-one Guardiola will be worried about. Lukaku, after all, has five inches on 5ft 10in Nicolas Otamendi.

City conceded through a corner against Huddersfield and then against West Ham last week

That is one of the reasons why Guardiola has told his team to restrict the number of free-kicks they allow United, knowing that Mourinho has a number of six-footers.

Against Huddersfield two weeks ago, City conceded through a corner.

Then against Southampton, they were fortunate not to concede to a Virgil van Dijk header, though the Saints’ leveller came via a cross which left back Fabian Delph misjudged.

Then against West Ham, another corner, another cross, another header, another goal.

City zonal mark from corners and it remains to be seen whether they change for the derby

In all, City gave away 12 corners in those three matches and conceded two of their goals from set-pieces and the other from a cross. It gave away their vulnerability.

City tend to zonal mark from corners and it remains to be seen whether they will make a change against Mourinho’s super-sized side.

It is being billed as a game of United’s physicality and power against City’s style and flare. One has an average height of 6ft 1in and the other 5ft 10in.

It will be a tall order for United to beat a team that have not lost in the league so far but they at least know there is one way they can harm them.