The city of Manchester will be the point of attraction on the 23rd of October 2011 as English Premiership League Leaders Manchester United and Manchester City trade horns in one the season's most anticipated derby. Our friends at Soccer Anchor are providing a before match preview of what to expect: also join in the prediction game below:
Match Details
Manchester United v Manchester City
Date: Sunday, October 23 2011
Kick-off time: 13:30pm BST
Venue: Old Trafford
You can watch Manchester United Vs Manchester City derby live on you computer here.
Match Overview
The highly anticipated Manchester derby will see Manchester City arrive at Old Trafford as league leaders, but Manchester United can reclaim top spot with victory over their bitter rivals.
The most recent match between these two sides saw United come from two goals down to win the Community Shield 3-2, but this will be a match with an entirely different complexion to the season curtain raiser.
United haven’t lost to City in the league since the Sky Blues did the double on them in the 2007/08 Premier League season, with the Red Devils emerging victorious in five of the last six league fixtures.
Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Nani all started on the bench last weekend for United’s clash with Liverpool, but it is expected that Sir Alex Ferguson will restore the trio to his starting eleven. Roberto Mancini is expected to give Sergio Aguero a start, after the Argentine striker missed City’s 4-1 thumping of Aston Villa with injury last weekend.
Key Factors in the Match
Experience of United
While City have stolen all the headlines in the past few seasons with their extraordinary actions in the transfer marker, there is no doubt United are still the ‘big boys’ when it comes to the on field action.
Arguably City have a stronger squad now than United on paper, but one thing that Sir Alex Ferguson has been phenomenal at is transferring that winning culture into every player who arrives at Old Trafford. This attitude is demonstrated by the fact that United are currently on a club record 19 consecutive wins at Old Tafford in the league.
United may not have played fantastic football in all 19 matches, indeed their 19thwin against Norwich could have easily been a defeat two weeks ago, but it is the ability of Sir Alex’s side to win no matter the circumstance that is so impressive.
City’s Creative Playmakers
If City do surge to a five point lead on the Premier League table, it will no doubt be in part because of their creative playmakers. David Silva is in career best form, with his dribbling and passing abilities embarrassing defences consistently this season. The Spaniard has five assists along with two goals to his name so far this season, and the only player in the Premier League with more assists is teammate Samir Nasri who has six.
Nasri and Silva have been at the heart of everything creatively about City so far this term, and it showed recently when they were both poor against Villarreal in the Champions League. City looked devoid of spark and intuition in their midweek fixture with the creative duo off their game, and Sir Alex will certainly be concocting a plan to keep them quiet again.
Defensive Concerns
Both teams are suffering defensive concerns, although statistically both United and City, along with Newcastle, have the best defences in the league, the trio only conceding six goals apiece.
But injuries at Old Trafford mean there has been constant upheaval in the United back four, Rio Ferdinand played last weekend but then missed the Champions League midweek fixture. Captain Nemanja Vidic made his return for United in the midweek, having not played since coming off with injury in the opening match of the season against West Brom. Whether Ferguson finally goes with his first choice central defensive partnership is uncertain, though Ferdinand is likely to start given he was rested from the midweek fixure.
City meanwhile have enjoyed a far more settled back four, however question marks still remain over the quality of the unit. Micah Richards looks to be back on track to becoming an England star, and captain Vincent Kompany has been superb. Joleon Lescott though is still unconvincing, just last weekend he was too easily bustled off the ball by Gabriel Agbonlahor and lucky not to pay the price. On the far left Mancini still appears undecided between Gael Clichy and Aleksandar Kolarov, both offer plenty in attack, but critically they are still susceptible in their primary defensive duties.
Anomaly
For all the tactics, planning and preparation that goes in ahead of this match, Wayne Rooney’s stunning bicycle kick to win this fixture last season cannot be planned for. Just last round Mario Balotelli pulled a similar stunt with a bicycle kick from close range, creating a goal from a chance that seemingly did not exist.
Several players on both sides have an elite quality on the pitch, so that no matter what Sir Alex or Mancini do, they simply cannot control what happens. Sergio Aguero has demonstrated he has that quality with his eight strikes in the Premier League thus far, only Rooney has more with nine. David Silva must now be recognised as one of the best midfielders in the world, and he is ably supported by Yaya Toure and Nasri.
For United of course there is Rooney, but Ashley Young and Nani are also both close to unplayable on their day, despite the continuous question marks over their consistency. Javier Hernandez is quickly developing into hero status at Old Trafford, with his goal against Liverpool continuing to push him along that route.
Match Prediction
Sir Alex Ferguson surprised much of the football world with his team selection at Anfield last round, but he won’t do so again for the Manchester derby. The more interesting choice in selection rests with his counterpart Mancini, does he opt for two strikers or play a holding midfielder?
Given the relatively poor form of Edin Dzeko in the last few fixtures, Mancini may well go with Nigel de Jong in midfield alongside Gareth Barry. This will leave Sergio Aguero upfront alone in a 4-2-3-1 formation, but with David Silva, Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri supporting Aguero, there is still plenty of attacking flair in the side.
The emphasis on both sides will be not to lose, City are ahead of United on the table and won’t want to give that up, while United will not want to drop five points behind City, so you suspect both sides would take a draw if offered it. That said, this is the Manchester derby, tackles will fly in, heads will lose their cool, and the spectacular might just happen again.
Catch all match day action live on your computer
Soccer Anchor Match Prediction: Manchester United 1-1 Manchester City
Chigotoday Match Prediction: Manchester United 1- 0 Manchester City
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