Five straight Premier League victories have cemented Manchester United’s place in the top four and has returned a sense of positivity around Old Trafford. After much discontent since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, United supporters will hope that their recent run of good form is not a false dawn and they they are close to mounting a challenge for the title, beginning next season. The most optimistic United supporter may think they still have a chance to win the league this season, but a gap of eight points to current leaders Chelsea – who also have a game in hand – looks like too much to make up. This weekend’s game against their neighbours will go a long way to determining who finishes highest, though, and that will be on of several goals for Louis Van Gaal’s team.
If one of the Manchester clubs are looking ahead to the future with a lot of hope, the other most certainly are not. City were on the end of another defeat on Monday night, going down 2-1 at Crystal Palace. It was their third straight loss away from home in the league and their fourth in all competitions. There’s no getting away from how disappointing this season has turned out to be after winning their second league in three years, last season. Whether or not Manuel Pellegrini is the man to take them forward and repair some of the damage remains to be seen, but he has definitely been let down by many of his top players – who were guilty of similar under the previous manager.
The main objective for Van Gaal in his first season at Old Trafford was to get the club back into the Champions League after their non-participation in this year’s competition. They are well on track to achieve that objective and have a realistic chance of finishing second. That looked unlikely only a month ago but it’s testament to how consistent they have been since losing to Swansea in February. It’s often said that the measure of a good team is how they respond to defeat and United have not lost consecutive games in the league all season.
City won the first derby of the season by getting the only goal of the game back at the start of November. That victory was their fourth successive win over United and their sixth in the last eight meetings between the two. It’s quite an astonishing record considering how dominant United had been over the last couple of decades. Heading into this gams, Pellegrini has to galvanise his players, somehow, in a bid to restore some respectability about their season, and to leapfrog their rivals back into third place.
Some will argue that the momentum is starting to shift again in Manchester. United have done very well of late and looked as impressive as they have done in a long time when defeating Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield last month. City, on the other hand, are completely out of form and look set for a significant turnover in players during the summer. That may well happens but I think it’s dangerous to write off a side who contain so much quality. That win over Liverpool was the first time United have outplayed another of the top teams and I think the jury is still out on how much progress they have made. The prices for this encounter would have been completely different a month ago, and whilst I am putting a lot of faith in this City team showing improved form (and attitude) they went to Old Trafford two years ago, when United were Champions, and took all three points.
Manchester City 15/8 @ Bet365
