Head to head: City and United lock horns at Eastlands
Manchester City go toe-to-toe with city rivals United in the pick of tonight’s games in the Premier League. United go in as marginal favourites as they remain unbeaten in the league this campaign, in fact the club have avoided defeat in their last 25 matches in all competitions.
Sir Alex Ferguson has raised the temperature ahead of the clash by claiming City’s off the field shenanigans are “stupid.”
He said: “I mean, there was one City fan who put a tattoo around his body saying ‘European Cup winners’. People get carried away. Unfortunately supporters are just as bad as directors. But I think a lot of their supporters would probably prefer to see a trophy paraded before they start screaming from the rooftops.”
This is a theme Ferguson has developed before, at various times describing City as “cocky” and “all talk.” Yet Mancini avoided entering in a war of words with the United boss at his own press conference, the City manager saying: “We must have respect for the top teams like United and Chelsea, those teams that have won things in recent years.”
The Red Devils are enduring a mini-crisis as the majority of their squad have contracted flu in the last week and United’s coaching team will give players late fitness tests to determine who will make the starting XI.
United come into the game on the back of a familiar late showing against Wolves in whereby Ji-Sung Park was the hero who kept United on Chelsea’s tails with a brace in the 2-1 win.
Manchester City, meanwhile, bounced back from consecutive league defeats with a victory at West Brom, courtesy of a Mario Balotelli brace. However, the striker will miss the derby due to suspension. Emmanuel Adebayor is also a doubt with a thigh injury which means City boss Roberto Mancini will be forced to rush talisman and former United man Carlos Tevez back into the side.
Tevez is City’s top-scorer with seven goals and the captain was sorely missed during City’s two defeats to Wolves and Lech Poznan in the Europa League.
It is United who boast the better record heading into this mouth-watering derby clash, with five victories accrued in their last six games in all competitions versus City.
Manchester United duo Ryan Giggs (hamstring) and Nani (groin) are rated as extremely doubtful but manager Ferguson is giving both until the last minute before deciding on his team.
It will be interesting to see how Tevez does against the in-form Nemanja Vidic who has arguably been United’s most consistent performer this season. The pair had competitive battles in last season’s encounters and tonight should prove no different.
While Nani (should he play) will look to get the better of German full-back Jerome Boateng who will be playing in his first Manchester derby.
City are looking to avoid back-to-back Premier League defeat at the City of Manchester Stadium for the first time in two years – since losing to Manchester United and Everton between November and December 2008.
United have won their last four Premier League derbies against City, since a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford in February 2008.
This is Sir Alex Ferguson’s 34th Manchester derby in the top flight. He has won 18, drawn nine and lost six of his previous 33 league matches against City.
Predicted line-ups:
Hart; Zabaleta, Kolo Toure, Kompany, Boateng; De Jong, Barry, Yaya Toure, Silva, Johnson; Tevez,
Van der sar; Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Nani, Scholes, Fletcher, Carrick, Giggs; Berbatov
Predicted Result: 0-2