Manchester United v Manchester City : The Derby Preview

Derby games are not based on form, we know this from years of experience when we were not so good but turned up in a few games to give the Reds a good match!

As a Manchester City fan I have a bit of a love hate relationship with games against our nearest neighbours Manchester United. I like to win these games of course but find the build up full of dread and nerves. These are the games which are there to see us shuffle off our mortal coil that little bit sooner than we would like.

To put it politely we spent many years in the football wilderness during which Manchester United rose in ascendancy to become the prominent club in the UK. During these many years, the derby games against Manchester United were like a free hit. Sure we were nervous going into the matches and we hoped against hope for a positive result but we expected little. All of the pressure was on our neighbours so we found occasional ways to win.

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Now these football roles are somewhat reversed and City are in a period of dominance and as a consequence much of the pressure and expectation will be on us. If United lose then no doubt Ole will simply point out how we are the best team in the land and shrug his shoulders. The result may become a free hit and attention will turn to their next game.

This derby game though has a slightly different frisson to it already. United come into this game on the back of a hefty 4:0 loss to Everton like a wounded animal where they get to play not just for pride but the prospect of a top four League finish. We lost 4:0 away to Everton in Pep’s first season so we know what that feels like and also that it doesn’t automatically make it impossible to win your next game.

City have a lot riding on this game, being in the precarious position of needing to probably win every single game to win the title. Needing an away win at your neighbours to secure a route towards a title seems like poor planning to me. Whatever happens in this game, fans will do well to remember that it is losses to Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Leicester which have put us in this position.

We are in a run of difficult and demanding games which will culminate with our away trip to the lovely Burnley at the weekend. Pep Guardiola has tired legs, tired minds and injuries to manage so it will be difficult to second guess his line up with accuracy having not seen the training of the players.

I hope City line up to take the game to United. I hope we play wingers which will push back their full backs which seem to remain their best attacking tactic. I hope we play Bernardo in the midfield central role alongside David Silva which did so well for us in the opening games of the season. I hope we get a result and United do not turn suddenly into a proper team and Lukaku and Pogba suddenly look like footballers.

United will be trying hard from the kick off so if City were to get an early goal then it may silence the crowd and sow doubt into the fragile Reds. Of course if we conceded an early goal we would really have work to do. What we cannot overlook is that this is their Cup Final, possibly their most important game of the season and if they have a chance of ruining ours, they will delight in it. I hope we do not give them that satisfaction.

There is some irony in the fact that due to the work of the fixture schedulers United potentially sit at the point of being able to crown either of their fiercest rivals as champions. To think that the worst United side of recent years may potentially have a Judgement of Solomon moment between Liverpool and City may be the bitterest pill of all. I wish I had not given up alcohol this month.

Predicted Manchester City Starting XI

Goalkeeper

Ederson

Defence

Walker, Kompany, Laporte, Zinchenko

Midfield

Fernandinho, Silva, Bernardo

Attack

Sane, Aguero, Sterling