EPL Preview: Manchester United versus Manchester City
Manchester United
After losing their last Premier League encounter against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester United are on the rocks, as far as the English Premier League race is concerned.
The Manchester derby has come at a bad time for the Red Devils, as not only do they face serious injury problems, but also because they have a crucial UEFA Champions League tie mid-week against Marseille.
Nonetheless, Sir Alex Ferguson’s men have been impervious at Old Trafford. On their home turf, United have been a sight to behold as they have not lost even a single match at the Theatre of dreams.
Currently, at the top of the English Premier League table, United have won four out of their last five fixtures. Their only blip came at the Molineaux stadium in their most recent Premier League match. The Red Devils have accumulated 54 points from 25 matches and Sir Alex will be hoping that his men see off the challenge from Manchester City in fine style.
Manchester City
Two weeks ago, Manchester City were down and out of the Premier League title race. But fortune has shined upon the Blues like a sun in a Subcontinent afternoon sky, as Roberto Mancini now has a terrific opportunity to reinvigorate City’s title chances.
Not only that, now, Manchester City, have a wonderful chance to inflict irreparable damage on United’s title charge.
However, Roberto Mancini has had some structural dilemmas in the past week. The Manchester City manager has come under criticism after his team have not been able to perform to the best of their abilities due to his defensive philosophy.
The 4-2-3-1 formation has not worked thus far for the men in Blue and it will be interesting to see whether City go for a different setup in the Manchester derby.
Additionally, Manchester City have a problem in Edin Dzeko’s shape. The ex-Wolfsburg striker was signed by Mancini in the winter transfer window for 26 million pounds but Dzeko has had trouble playing alongside Carlos Tevez in a lop-sided 4-3-3 formation.
Team news
Manchester United’s defender, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chris-c9006 Smalling, will be deputized in place of the English national team captain.
Johnny Evans also misses out on the tie against Manchester City as he suffered a minor ankle injury in United’s defeat to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wolves-c40952 on the previous weekend. Javier Hernandez won’t be starting the match either as he just returned from international duty on Friday, following Mexico’s win against Bosnia in the international friendly matches that took place mid-week.
Expected Manchester United line-up (4-4-2): Van der Sar, O'Shea, Smalling, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Fletcher, Carrick, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ryan-Giggs-c31985, Rooney, Berbatov
On the other hand, Manchester City will be without their star striker http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mario-Balotelli-c23937. However, Edin Dzeko and Carlos Tevez are both fit for the Manchester derby.
It is expected that City will deploy a defensive formation, which can see the exclusion of either one of their marquee target men.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Micah-Richards-c25259 has been declared fit after recovering from his injury issues.
Expected Manchester City line-up (4-3-3): Hart, Zabaleta, K Toure, Kompany, Kolarov, Milner, Y Toure, Silva, Barry, Tevez, Dzeko
Key players
After scoring against Wolves in their last Premier League encounter and before that against Aston Villa at Old Trafford, Luis Nani, will be the man to watch out for as far as Manchester United are concerned.
The Portuguese winger has been on fire this season and due to his fine run of form, he dominates the assist making charts in the English Premier League. It is quite possible that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nani-c27299 will play a pivotal role in the Manchester derby for the Red half of the city.
Returning to his former club and seething with vengeance once more, Carlos Tevez will be the man to watch out on Manchester City’s front. City’s club captain has been leading their goal scoring adventures thus one can expect him to earn the wrath of the home support at Old Trafford by cementing his name on the goal scoring sheet.
Prediction
This is really a tough one to call but Manchester United’s home form means that they will be the favourites going into this matchup. Prediction: 2-1 to Manchester United.
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