This weekend, one of the hottest rivalries in world football comes to the fore once again, with the latest of edition of the Manchester derby to take place on Sunday afternoon. This will be the first derby of the season for Manchester, and at the Etihad it’ll be very interesting to see what happens, with both sides under new management this season, after Manuel Pellegrini and David Moyes replaced Roberto Mancini and Sir Alex Ferguson respectively during the summer.
The Blues have arguably had an easier run of games to start the season than their neighbours have. Newcastle, Cardiff, Hull and Stoke have been their first four opponents of the new Premier League season, compared to Swansea, Chelsea, Liverpool and Crystal Palace for the Reds. Despite this, the two sides remain neck and neck on seven points, with the Blues just edging the race on goal difference.
Both teams will be boosted by their respective Champions League wins in their opening fixtures in mid-week, as both clubs displayed good form in wins against Bayer Leverkusen (for United) and Czech side Viktoria Plzen (for the blue half of Manchester). Despite some predicting a tough ride for the Red Devils in their match at Old Trafford, two from Rooney along with goals from Van Persie and Antonio Valencia sealed a 4-2 victory.
In the Czech Republic, it was a similar story for the Citizens. After a poor first-half showing, Pellegrini sent his players back out after being on the wrong end of a hairdryer treatment, and they duly responded. Three goals in ten minutes from Edin Dzeko, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero meant City eventually cruised to the win, and in truth could have scored more. After some poor performances in recent games, this performance will have boosted blue hopes ahead of Sunday’s vital game.
The match at Eastlands this weekend could be an early marker for who will be the bigger contenders for this season’s league title. As we know, the title went to the red half of the city last season after a poor season from City led to no trophies in the campaign, but they’ll be invigorated under Pellegrini, and do look to be playing differently. It’s generally considered that the two Manchester teams have been the only two real contenders for the crown since the 2010-11 season, and whilst Chelsea have been labelled as favourites by some this time round, I firmly believe the league is staying in Manchester.
David Moyes will certainly be boosted by the news that David Silva, the playmaker, is unlikely to make it to full fitness by Sunday, and could miss the game, which would increase United’s chances. However, the Blues have suffered many problems with injuries in the last few weeks, but will be delighted by the news that both Gael Clichy and Micah Richards are both back in the squad ahead of the derby – plus the return of Vincent Kompany on Tuesday didn’t exactly dent City hopes either.
On the other hand, Manuel Pellegrini will be very happy to hear that United trio Rafael, Danny Welbeck and Phil Jones are likely to miss the encounter this weekend, although winger Nani is back in the squad. Meanwhile Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand look set to partner each other in defence for the third time in a week.
After City won the last derby, in April at Old Trafford with a 2-1 victory, United will certainly have revenge on their mind going into possibly their toughest game yet this season. Of course, the Red Devils won the corresponding fixture last season with a late Van Persie free-kick which has since been replayed a thousand times by Sky Sports. My belief is that this time it could go either way, and if either time wins it’ll be a close-fought game. My prediction, although some will slate me for this and call me biased, is a 2-1 victory for City. United could very easily nick it though.
The Blue View 
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