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Manchester United will be travelling to the Etihad Stadium to take on City this Sunday.
United are currently sitting at the top of the table; 3 points above City. With the number of high profile names coming to City in the past couple of years, they have been the stronger of the 2 sides, winning 3 of their 5 encounters.
City is still unbeaten in the league but too many draws are hurting them. They are not the same team which had goals flowing in from every direction last year. Their defense however seems to be quite tight, not conceding more than 1 goal in their recent matches.
Roberto Mancini is under a lot of pressure following City’s exit from the Champion’s League without a single win. This has been the worst performance from an English team in the UEFA history. Finishing bottom of the group also meant they did not qualify for the Europa League.
City this time around doesn’t seem to be the same force they were back in April when the 2 sides played. Toure has not been bad, but would also not say that he is in his prime form, neither has Captian Kompany been able to illuminate the form he had last season.
The less I talk about United’s defense this season the better it is for everyone. Our defense has never been as leaky as it has this season. We just can’t seem to stop the balls crossing the line. The saving grace for them have been their forwards who have got United back in the game numerous times this year. At times I feel that the team is doing it just to put up a challenge for our forwards to score goals, or like I said before they just want to entertain the fans.
Manchester City might be without James Milner (hamstring), Micah Richards (knee) and David Silva (hamstring). Gael Clichy and Aleksandar Kolarov are close to making a comeback.
United would be missing Anderson (hamstring), Nani (hamstring), Shinji Kagawa (knee) and Tom Cleverley (calf). Antonio Valencia and Nemanja Vidic might be available for selection but it’s highly possible that they might not be called upon this Sunday.
All in all I’m really looking forward for this Sunday’s Derby and I hope I would still be enjoying my beer with my boys after the 90 minutes of play.
