Sunday Double Delight: Old Trafford host Liverpool, Gunners welcome Man City

This Sunday promises to be a double delight of EPL extravaganza as the Manchester rivals play against two of the traditional ‘Big 4’. United host their eternal Merseyside rivals, Liverpool, while City visit the Gunners on their turf to make that day another one of those title-tilting moments in a league.

MANCHESTER UNITED v/s LIVERPOOL

Though they have a rich history, Liverpool have not been the team that they used to be. Still, this match is always a litmus test for United’s midfield as they had a tough time in the reverse fixture in September where Liverpool utterly dominated the midfield. It was not until Jonjo Shelvey’s controversial red card that United were able to get back into the game and win it 2-1.

This match promises to be a showdown between two of the League’s best strikers, Robin Van Persie and Luis Suarez.

Howard Webb, often alleged to be ‘United’s 12^th man’, will be the man in charge of this fixture. The last time he officiated a match between these two sides was a FA Cup match in 2010. He sent off Steven Gerrard and awarded a controversial penalty to United in a much disputed 1-0 United win.

PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR:

Robin Van Persie

Sir Alex Ferguson compared him to the legendary Eric Cantona and rightly so as RVP has become the talisman figure that they have needed for the past few years. His unbelievably good technique coupled with his calm composure has made him a terror for opponent defences. He would certainly look to continue his good form and would be the go-to-guy what with Rooney’s injury.

Lucas Leiva

Although all eyes would be on Suarez, this man would hold the key for Liverpool. His return from injury has helped Liverpool a lot and his game is of such quality that he has displaced Joey Allen from his place. He does the dirty job, making sure that he acts as a fulcrum between the attack and defence. The key point is that his presence allows Gerrard more freedom up in the opposition half.

ARSENAL v/s MANCHESTER CITY

The next match that promises to be a delight would be played at Emirates Stadium between two teams with different reasons to win. The visitors need 3 points to stay in the title race while the Gunners hope to keep their Champions League qualification hopes alive. The Gunners would have history on their side as City have never scored against them in Emirates since the 2006/07 season.

Coming to injury news, Arsenal are looking much better than City as they would be missing the usual suspects only, though Giroud is still not fully fit. City on the other hand would miss Yaya Toure and Kolo Toure due to the Africa Cup of Nations. Their major concern would be the absence of Aguero, out with injury and Samir Nasri, under suspension for his red card against Norwich.

Arsenal would most likely play with Chamberlain, Walcott and Podolski up front with Cazorla, Wilshere and Arteta making up their midfield core. Mancini would have a harder time picking his team with only Tevez and Silva absolute certainties up front.

PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR:

Theo Walcott:

Not only is he Arsenal’s leading goal scorer, he is also their joint top assist leader. Having exploded as a potential forward this season, he will hold the key to a great second half of the season for Arsenal.

David Silva:

Considered the Merlin of Manchester City, he has the ability to control the tempo of attack and break any offside trap. With City missing a few major attackers in this match, Silva is going to be the man in charge of leading their offence.