Last season the Manchester derby turned out to be the difference between city winning and united losing the title , with one hand already on trophy united will be going in this match behind a champions league and F.A cup elimination and uneven form of strikers , whereas city will be riding high on the routing they inflicted on magpies , but as we know the derbies are never decided on form ,its decided by many factors ,football being one of them but mainly its the psychological factors which decide the course of game , united have already struck once this season by beating city at their own home , which was one of the factors that derailed city season , united have gone from strength to strength since then whereas city have faltered when they didnt needed to , united capitalized on every mistake that city did and the result is 15 points clear at the top of table.Now it will be interesting to see the important battles between the players which can turn the tide of the game.
1. Manchester united attack V/S Manchester city defence
Best attack of EPL against the best defence of EPL , its that kind of contest which sets the ground on fire , united have been on fire this season scoring most number of goals and taking every defence they faced for a ride whereas city have struggled to score goals this season but their defence has been top notch much thanks to their summer arrival majita nastasic , the young serbian has taken the place of lescott as the first choice CB along with Vincent kompany and played a huge part in keeping their defence strong .
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Manchester united since their exit from champions league have struggled to imitiate their free flow goal scorind record they exhibited in early stages of season much because of their faltering, inconsistent wingers and their main striker RVP going out of form but with plethora of scoring options upfront and wayne rooney striking form in last few matches the law of averages look to catch up and players will see this match as a oppurtunity to rise to occasion and regain their rich goal scoring form.
RVP with his recent slump in form will be looking to regain his scoring touch and no better occasion then the Manchester derby and with Rooney coming back to form recently ,he will be hoping to shrug off his groin injury and take advantage of a psychologically down city team ,whereas city will be looking to continue on their defensive solidity and will be hoping to shut down united midfield and keep the wingers in check and not giving enough space to united forwards.
2. Manchester united defence vs Manchester city attack
Much to the surprise of both fans and pundits , the strong points of both teams turned out to be the weakness this season , united who had most number of clean sheets last season in EPL went on a conceding spree mainly because of the injuries to their defenders with Carrick forced to play as a defender in few matches , whereas City attack was toothless in earlier stages because of injury to Sergio aguero and underperformance by Mario balotelli who was later sold to Ac milan.
Last few matches have indicated the turn of tides for both teams , united have sorted their defence much thanks to Rio ferdinand and Nemanja vidic who have contributed to 6 consecutive clean sheets in last 6 matches and will be hoping to increase their run further ,whereas with Tevez in hot streak and aguero coming back from injury city will be hoping to castle united defence once again.
Manchester united will be looking to continue on their recently found defensive consistency and keep the underperforming city forward quiet whereas city will be taking inspiration from the 6-1 drubbing they gave united and will be hoping their forwards come to form at the right moment.
3. Battle of the central midfield
After early setbacks United sorted their midfield , with credit going to their most underrated player Michael carrick , not only Carrick bought that calm in the midfield which was lacking but also played a role of provider deep from the midfield ,ability to control the ball , his distributions to wings and ability to pass from both feets meant that he maintained the pace of the game , his resurgence is the main reason why united is stading 15 points at the top of table , with cleverly as the preferred partner united will be hoping to control the ball from midfield and distrbute it to wings as soon as possible.
Manchester city possess arguably the best midfield in EPL with Yaya toure as the main Central midfielder and Gareth Barry as a supporter ,having a quite season this time Toure will be hoping to show his mettle in this derby and dominating the midfield might turn out to be the turning point of the match , Gareth barry as a tough tackling midfielder will be hoping to minimize the role of his counterpart Michael carrick by cramming him for space and distribute the ball to silva and tevez who can initiate a counter attack.
4. Tactics
With two teams playing very different style of football the tactics employed by managers can be very decisive in the outcome of this game ,Manchester after signing RVP have added one more dimension to their game ,united have always relied on their wingers as their suppport system to provide the deliveries but after the arrival of RVP as the central striker united game has became more central with carrick excelling in that provider role and the full backs given the freedom to go forward and exploit the space on wings with the help of that overlapping runs , but as we have seen this season , SAF has always preferred to maintain width in big games , be it Chelsea , Liverpool,Arsenal or the last Manchester derby united have started with two orthodox wingers. United have preferred to sit back in these big games and tried to score on counter attacks , which they have been relatively successfull in, with 2 of their 3 goals coming of counter attack in previous manchester derby , both assist provided by wide players , united would be hoping to replicate the same and catch city on break .United will be hoping to exploit the spaces left by city wide players who drift inside and score on counter attacks.
Mancini have tried different tactics so far this season to out think his counterparts , but he fell flat on his face , his decision to start with 3-5-2 this season cost them very badly which was very much responsible for their poor run in EPL and champions league , it was basically an attmept to add another dimension in the game by employing wide tactics which unfortunatley didnt work . City plays a very central game with both their wide players drifting inside and the Fullbacks making the overlapping runs but the bad form of their strikers and underperformance by silva this season meaning they have been pretty ineffective in the final third and goals have not come when required ,with tevez coming back to form and aguero coming back to injury , Mancini will be hoping that their strikers come good and with their pace and dribbling skills they can castle the united defence whereas fullbacks will be prepared to provide crosses inside the box , Mancini will also be aware about the counter attack talent united posses and will be hoping that barry and toure dont lose the ball in midfield , with united most likely to start with orthodox wingers , city will need their wide players to provide that defensive cover to their fullbacks and neutralise the counter attacks.
This game has all the ingredients of being a blockbuster , City with already losing the previous derby and most probably title will be looking to take revenge of that loss and regain some of the lost confidence and end up the season on a high whereas united will be looking to build up on their 18 games unbeaten streak in EPL and achieve the double on Manchester city and send a signal to the Noisy neighbours that Manchester is still red.
