Man Utd v Man City – Teams Geared for Carling Cup Semi Final showdown

With all of the brouhaha surrounding the first leg of the Manchester derby Carling Cup semi final, the ties gets down to the real intense stuff on Wednesday night. City and United go into combat again at Old Trafford, with Alex Ferguson looking to overturn a 2-1 deficit. The first leg was all dominated by the precocious little Argentinean Carlos Tevez, who scored a brace for City. He seemed to revel in the moment, celebrating his goal scoring feats in front of the United bench, and taunting the easily riled Gary Neville for backing Ferguson in not signing Tevez to a permanent contract. Tevez of course, spent a long time at United on loan, but moved across the City to join the blue revolution in Manchester.

It’s all handbags at ten paces stuff, but it is highly amusing and entertaining. Watching Wayne Rooney doing playground taunts as Tevez was taking his successful penalty kick was a particular highlight. Now it will all be serious again, and will probably account for some fierce challenges going on at Old Trafford. The Ref is probably going to have his hands full. The passion of support surrounding the game really does not need any explanation. The fans will be fired up, the players will be fired up, and the managers will need to try and keep their players focused on the game. A hot headed sending off could cost either side dearly.

Aston Villa await the winners in the Final of the 2010 Carling Cup, after they produced a 10-goal thriller in their second leg against Blackburn. If City and United can produce half of that amount of goals between them on Wednesday night, it will be a fantastic game. The scoreline suggests that City have the edge, but in all honesty, United only have themselves to blame for being behind, as they looked for the large part, certainly in the early stages, to be the better team. With England star Wayne Rooney in red hot form, banging in 4 goals against Hull on the weekend, United at home cannot be counted out of course. That performance seemed to spark a flood of suggestions that he will be leaving Old Trafford for somewhere bigger. The only two teams who would stump up that kind of money would be Real Madrid or Barcelona. Those rumours can be summed up in one word. Unlikely.

Whether it is hairdryer or full on wind tunnel treatment that Ferguson gives his men, he will be ready for Roberto Mancini’s City. They will not like conceding ground at home to their nearest rivals. After receiving long time injured Rio Ferdinand back from injury, the centre half has now been charged with violent conduct for striking a Hull player. Most of Ferguson’s woes this season have come because they have been missing defensive players. This latest episode could lead to a three match ban for Ferdinand. He will still be available for the Carling Cup semi final, but would be missing against their next league match away at Arsenal on Sunday.

City could be a fuller strength than in the first leg, with Kolo Toure back from the African Cup of Nations, and striker Emmauel Adebayor likely to be eased back into action after the tragedy over the attack on the Togo team bus. Tevez again will be the pivotal figure for the light Blues, as he is the creative engine in the side. As for Brazilian forward Robinho, it looks as if he will be leaving Eastlands, at least temporarily, as there are a couple of Brazilian clubs looking to acquire his services on loan. After a long time out injured, he has looked extremely out of touch in his limited appearances back in the team. There will still be no Patrick Vieira for City either, which is a shame, as he is exactly the type of player needed for City in this situation, as he is struggling with a calf injury.

Batten down the hatches and get ready for an absorbing, full on contest between the Manchester rivals. How secure is United’s grip on the Carling Cup as defending champions? Will this herald in a new era of being “the biggest and best football club in the world” for Manchester City?

BETTING STATS

Last 5 Head to Head
Man City 2, Man Utd 1
Man Utd 4, Man City 3
Man Utd 2, Man City 0
Man City 0, Man Utd 1
Man Utd 1, Man City 2

Last 5 Match Goals
Man Utd – 9 For, 4 Against
Man City – 11 For, 6 Against

Last 10 Form (league and cups)
Man Utd – W5, D1, L4
Man City – W7, D1, L2

Win Percentage
Man Utd have a 68.4 win percentage at home
Man City have a 42.9 win percentage away from home

Match Prices (90 minutes)
Man Utd to win: 4/6 at Bet365
Draw: 3/1 at Victor Chandler
Man City to win: 9/2 at SkyBet

Betting Advice: How close is this one going to be? City rode their luck a little bit, and with Rooney looking sharp, it suggest United are going to find the back of the net at some point during the night. United do have an away goal, but that will only count after extra time. If the aggregate scores are level at the end of 90 minutes, then there will be extra time. Only then will the away goal rule come into play at the end of 120 minutes. Having your nose in front already could mean the difference for City. They will have to perform with a little more steel than they did at home. They are in good form though, so edging them with a handicap could pay off:
Man City +0.75 Asian Handicap: 43/40 at Bet365