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So, the new season looms large and the curtain raiser for the English Football campaign is just a couple of days away. Yes, the FA Community Shield. The fierce rivals, Manchester United and Manchester City are drawn for this fixture this year being the EPL and FA Cup champions, respectively. The war of words has already begun and no one can wait for the teams to battle it out at the Wembley.
Community Shield does not carry that much importance in the terms of silverware, but the winning team will definitely have a psychological edge over the other going into the campaign with a winning mentality and of course, bragging rights.
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MANCHESTER UNITED
The current Champions of English Premier League who were criticized widely last year at the start of the campaign for lack of depth in the squad went on to silence the critics by winning the Premier League and reaching the finals of UEFA Champions League. Year after year, the contenders for the title went on increasing, but the hunger of Manchester United only increased with time which fired them to become the most successful team on English soil after lifting a record 19th title eclipsing Liverpool‘s 18 titles.
With departure of players like Van der Sar(Retired), Paul Scholes(Retired), John O’Shea(Sold), Wes Brown(Sold), Sir Alex Ferguson had voids to fill in this transfer window and as expected, Manchester United took out the cheque book to sign David de Gea(Goalkeeper), Phil Jones(Defender/Central Defensive Midfielder) and Ashley Young(Winger) spending over £50 million.
But experts still believe that there is a weak link in Manchester United’s central midfield. And there are some targets on Manchester United’s radar to add some firepower in midfield. Wesley Sneijder being on the top of the list, but his arrival is not guaranteed and United will have to use the current options in the midfield like Carrick, Giggs, Cleverley and Anderson. Fletcher is not expected to start because he is still fighting to gain full fitness.
Probable Line-up:
De Gea, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Young, Giggs, Carrick, Nani, Rooney, Berbatov. (4-4-2)
In Goalkeeping department Sir Alex has a couple of options in De Gea and Lindegaard, but De Gea is expected to make it to the team sheet in the starting XI. Rafael is expected to start as a right back but Phil Jones can feature at that position as we saw he played as a RB in one of the pre season freindlies. The two centre backs are almost fixed in Ferdinand and Vidic and Evra will start on the Left as usual.
On the wings it would be Young and Nani and in the central midfield Carrick and Giggs are favorite to start. However Anderson could make it to the starting line up if Sir Alex chalks out a different plan.
Chicharito is out with a concussion and so Rooney and Berbatov are favorites to start upfront. But if Sir Alex decides to change the formation to 4-5-1 to tackle the tricky midfield of Manchester City, Dimitar Berbatov could be axed in order to make way for an extra midfielder in Ji-sung Park and Rooney being started as a lone striker.
MANCHESTER CITY
Manchester City, once were just the pretenders but now are a real threat to any team with the squad they have built in a couple of years. Fired with a huge chunk of money coming from the the new owners, Manchester City signed some great players to strenghten the squad.
The ‘once a regular mid table team’, City have gone from strength to strength under Roberto Mancini, qualifying for the Champions League convincingly and winning a piece of silverware in FA Cup after 35 long years. Yaya Toure netted the winner to knockout Manchester United from FA Cup and again in the final at Wembley. Yaya Toure fired a warning to Manchester United this week that they will repeat the Glory of last season and deliver a message that ‘They are here’. However, time will prove that are they still the ‘Noisy neighbours’ or a real deal in football.
Manchester City, famous for spending big in the transfer window added three new faces to the squad. Stefan Savic(Defender), Gael Clichy(Defender) and Sergio Aguero(Striker) being the new faces at Etihad Stadium. Sergio Aguero, a new record breaking transfer for the club at an estimated amount of £38 Million is speculated to be a replacement for Carlos Tevez who want to leave the club.
Manchester City is having good players for every position and if they get their acts right, there is no reason why they can not pose a challenge to the Champions.
Probable Line-up:
Hart, Lescott, Kompany, Kolarov, Richards, De Jong, Barry, Yaya Toure, Silva, Balotelli, Dzeko. (4-2-3-1)
Hart is certain to start as a Goalkeeper, he showed some great quality in the last season. Lescott, Kompany, Kolarov, Richards will start as the full backs. Kolarov was preferred over Clichy in the friendly against Inter Milan and might again get the nod ahead of the Frenchman.
Silva, who looked sharp in the pre season friendlies could start on either of the wings. Yaya Toure, De Jong and Barry will command the midfield. Milner could be used if their is a change of plan.
Dzeko and Balotelli who both found the net against Inter Milan could start upfront as Carlos Tevez has just returned from the break and Aguero joined the club only recently. Although Aguero could make it to the starting line up, as everyone know his quality in front of the goal. Reports suggested that Tevez will not start, but Mancini can give a surprise on the D-Day.
Head to head:
Total Matches played(In all competitions): 159
Manchester United wins: 66
Manchester City wins: 43
Drawn Matches: 50
Last 3 games: Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United(FA Cup Semi-final), Manchester United 2-1 Manchester City(League Game), Manchester City 0-0 Manchester United(League Game).
FORM SHEET:
MANCHESTER UNITED : W-W-W-W-W
30.07.2011: Barcelona 1-2 Manchester United
27.07.2011: MLS ALL-STARS 0-4 Manchester United
23.07.2011: Chicago Fire 1-3 Manchester United
20.07.2011: Seattle Sounders 0-7 Manchester United
13.07.2011: New England Revolution 1-4 Manchester United
MANCHESTER CITY : W-W-W-W-W
31.07.2011: Inter Milan 0-3 Manchester City
30.07.2011: Manchester City 3-0 Airtricity XI
24.07.2011: Los Angeles Galaxy 1-1 Manchester City (6-7 A.E.T)
18.07.2011: Vancouver Whitecaps 1-2 Manchester City
16.07.2011: Club America 0-2 Manchester City
Both teams are evenly matched. Both teams have quality in each position of the field. It is hard to pick out a winner among these two. When these two sides meet, you can throw away the form sheet, because both are capable of stunning each other. It will be a close encounter and with a narrow margin win to either side.
Get set and hold on to your chair, folks, it’s time for the Battle Of Manchester.
Manchester United vs Manchester City,
Date: 7.08.2011
Venue: Wembley
Time: 14:30 BST, 19:00 IST.
The Battle Of Manchester
