Manchester City V Manchester United
Tuesday, 19th January – 20:00 GMT (BBC1)
The Manchester derby is always an eagerly anticipated fixture but it’s been peppered with some added spice in that the prize for the winner is a Wembley Carling Cup final date. The pair will commence battle tonight at The City of Manchester Stadium before the conclusion at Old Trafford a little over a week later. With City playing the part of host in the opening leg the pressure will be on Roberto Mancini’s men to take some sort of lead over to Old Trafford but will Man Utd’s resilience shine through tonight or can City stamp their mark of authority on the competition.
Manchester City – City have been a tough nut to crack on home soil and will be hoping their superb home form this season will cause a few nerves in the Utd dressing room. After ten completed home fixtures in the league, City remain undefeated and even have the scalps of Arsenal (4-2) and Chelsea (2-1). They did go through a lean spell where draws were ever present but they’ve come through that tough period and are now reaping the rewards for their persistence with a run of four successive wins in the league; beating Chelsea (2-1), Sunderland (4-3), Stoke City (2-0) and Blackburn Rovers (4-1).
The big improvement since Roberto Mancini’s arrival at the helm last month has been the big change at the back, not in personnel but in their overall performances. In the four games Mancini has took charge of, not including their FA Cup game with Middlesborough, City have conceded just three goals. Two of those, though, did come in their 2-0 defeat at Everton last Saturday. A defeat which did end a run of four straight league wins and it will now be interesting to see how the players respond after a poor result and a poor display.
Positives: The big positive for us is that if you’re a punter, a City punter, then you can rest assured that Mancini will put out the strongest possible starting eleven, a starting eleven with an attacking intent. City’s owners are desperate for instant success and while most clubs won’t see winning the Carling Cup so much as a major success, City’s free-spending owners will. The message was clear while Mark Hughes was guiding City into a semi-final and that was City’s intentions to go all the way and win the tournament outright. We expect Mancini to think along the same lines, starting with a strong line up this evening.
Negative: Their 2-0 defeat at Everton has thrown a spanner in the works, especially as their defending was abysmal. Mancini appeared to have reinforced what was a shaky City defence within no time after some reliable defensive displays from City in recent weeks. However, City were back to their shaky and vulnerable selves at the weekend as Everton’s defence was carved open on half-a-dozen occasions and punished twice. In fairness, Everton could have scored more so there is certainly still room for improvement in that City back line.
Betting View: We can only see one team worth betting on and it’s the only team we’ve talked about in our preview. Mancini will field a strong City side tonight, the strongest possible, and the quality City have up front should be too much for a vulnerable and exposed United defence this evening. United were found wanting at the back on more than one occasion against Burnley last Saturday, but Burnley’s attackers were in a generous mood. The likes of Carlos Tevez, Santa Cruz and Craig Bellamy won’t be as wasteful. Only one team gets our vote and it’s Manchester City.
Possible Bets:
Man City to WIN – 17/10 WilliamHill
Man City to score 2 or more – 11/8 PaddyPower
Carlos Tevez FGS – 13/2 BetFred
Carlos Tevez Anytime Scorer – 9/5 PaddyPower
