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Turn the clock back to April 3rd 2012. A Manchester United fan and bookie, Fred Done announced on his twitter account that he was handing over the winnings to punters who backed Sir Alex Ferguson to take the crown for the 20th time – with seven games still to play. Initially it seemed the correct decision, with the Red Devils brushing aside QPR and Arsenal beating City. Man Utd had an eight point lead with six games left and everyone expected them to cruise towards the EPL title with many fans already celebrating another title win. Alas, some people tend to forget that Manchester United have a habit of doing things the hard away. Manchester in their next three games dropped four out of a possible nine points – losing to Wigan, then beating Aston Villa and finally drawing with Everton. Man City on the other hand won all of their three games with ease and now stand three points behind United. A few weeks ago the Manchester Derby seemed to not have much significance in the title race and now it is providing the backdrop for the climax of both these clubs’ season. This is as Sir Alex Ferguson mentioned: “The Biggest Manchester Derby in his 26 year long stay.”
Form Guide:
Manchester United: WWLWDManchester City: DLWWW
Probable Line- Up’s
Manchester United
In their last game against Everton, Manchester United didn’t defend poorly they just didn’t defend at all. Though there is no major reshuffle expected in defence, there could be a change in the RB slot. It has been Man Utds’ Achilles heels this season, with Jones, Smalling and Rafael all playing in that position at different points in this season. Rafael, it had seemed, had recently found some sort of consistency in his game but against Everton, his problems were exposed. I personally expect Smalling to start the game ahead of Rafael, as he will provide them with the required height during set-pieces both, while defending and attacking. Other than that, I expect the same first 11 that played Everton recently to start against Man City. Nani on his return, has been a breath of fresh air and him along with Rooney, Welbeck and Valencia form a formidable front four. During their last match, they were all at their dominating best and could have scored more than four goals. They will all need to be at their best if Manchester United expect to beat Manchester City.
Starting 11: David de Gea, Chris Smalling, Johnny Evans, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra; Antonio Valencia, Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick, Luis Nani; Wayne Rooney, Danny WelbeckSubs: Ben Amos, Phil Jones, Rafael, Park Ji-Sung, Ashley Young,Ryan Giggs, Javier Hernandez
Manchester City
Man City will most likely stick with the same line up that they started with, in the last weekend’s game against Wolves. Kolarov might be preferred to Clichy, though I would suggest that against the pace of Valencia, Clichy might be a better option. Micah Richards should start at RB instead of Zabaleta, if he is able to shrug off his hamstring injury. Mario Balotelli will be back in contention but I expect him to find himself on the bench with Tevez and Aguero, performing well together up front. If the Reds have Rooney, Welbeck, Valencia and Nani in attack, Man City have Silva, Nasri, Aguero and Tevez.
Starting 11: Joe Hart, Micah Richards, Vincent Kompany, Joleon Lescott, Gael Clichy; Gareth Barry, Yaya Toure; David Silva,Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri, Carlos TevezSubs: Costel Pantilimon, Pablo Zabaleta, Aleksander Kolarov, Kolo Toure, James Milner, Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli
Key Battles
Scholes/Carrick vs Yaya Toure/Barry
This will be a very interesting battle to witness. The Man City midfielders will need to ensure that neither Scholes nor Carrick get enough time on the ball, as this would allow them to dictate the pace of the game and hence this is one of the most important battles in this game. Whoever wins this battle, could effectively end up on the winning side. Carrick might also want to use this opportunity to prove why he deserves to be given a chance in the England Set-up ahead of Gareth Barry.
Wingers vs Full backs
This season Valencia, Nani and Young have been important in United’s title charge. They will hence be very important, no matter which of these two start this Monday. The Reds game is highly based on the wingplay and hence the Man City full backs will have their jobs cut-out, in blocking the supply line to the Man Utd strikers. Also, the City full backs have to try and get forward, whenever possible and assist the forwards from the wings as Nasri and Silva tend to come inside. This allows the full backs to overlap them on the wings and draw out the opposition fullbacks, hence opening up space in the center. Even Patrice Evra – who was poor during the last game – tends to go forward frequently but will have to be aware of the danger that Micah Richards poses on the counter attack. Rafael/Smalling on the other side, will also have to be careful.
Stats and Trivia
13: WayneRooney has scored 13 goals in his last 11 Premier League appearances for Man Utd and he needs only 1 more goal to equal his best ever goal tally in a single season for Man Utd(34)
23: The number of times Manchester City have taken all 3 points off Manchester United in their Home ground out of 73 games.
2: The last time Manchester City did the double over Manchester United, it was under Sven Goran Eriksson in the 2007-08 season.
6: There has been six red cards in Premier League Manchester derbies, with five of them going to Man Utd players.
Quote- Unquote
“Our supporters have been subjected to that drama for years and years. God knows what they are like just now.”Sir Alex Ferguson
“Manchester has two top teams who are in a position to play this important game. But for us it will just be one more game, not because we fight for this or for that, and after it there are another two games, very tough games.”Mancini, Man City manager
So that is my Preview to the Biggest Manchester Derby in recent memory no matter what Mancini says. A win for any club does not necessarily win them the title but it does give them an advantage with two games remaining in the season. I hope Manchester United win this, but I am going to predict a draw. The last time Fred Done paid out on Man Utd winning the title, the Reds conceded a 12 point lead for Arsenal to take the title. Lets hope history does not repeat itself.
