English Other
2010-01-19 - Manchester City vs Manchester United
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: England, Carling League Cup 2009/2010
Tuesday, 18th January 2010 - Kickoff 19:45
Manchester City
Roberto Mancini's honeymoon period at Manchester City came crashing to a halt with their 2-0 defeat at Goodison Park on Saturday. To make matters worse, Robinho was hauled off after coming on as a substitute after 51 effortless minutes. How will the City players feel coming into this big Derby game?
City moved down to 5th in the Premier League with their defeat due to an inferior goal difference but will have taken some positives at the failure of their rivals Tottenham, Aston Villa and Liverpool who all drew. They have a 7-3-0 at home in the Premier League where they have scored 26 goals and conceded 14 and have yet to lose at the City of Manchester Stadium in any competition this season. City should also take heart from the fact that they have beaten Arsenal twice and Chelsea here already this season.
The Blues had won 5 straight games before their defeat on Saturday, 4 of those under Mancini without conceding a goal. They have also won their last 5 games at the City of Manchester Stadium in all competitions.
Stephen Ireland is likely to return to the bench here but Roque Santa Cruz and Patrick Vieira are out.
Manchester United
Manchester United kept in touch with Chelsea at the top of the table with a win on Saturday but it was another poor performance with the 3-0 scoreline being more than harsh on Burnley. There are still uncertainties in the squad, especially defensively, which are being exploited by teams.
United are 2nd in the table, until Wednesday at least, when it is possible that they drop a position if Arsenal win their game in hand over Bolton. Their main struggles have been away from Old Trafford where they are 6-1-4 with 22 goals scored and 11 conceded. Only Arsenal have scored more goals than United away from home, but no other team in the top 6 has lost as many games on their travels.
The Red Devils have been inconsistant to say the least and this is indicated with their 4-1-3 record over the last 8 games. They will look to their away form in a positive light as they have only lost 1 of their last 6 away games in all competitions but they do have a 1-4 record away from home against teams in the top half of the table.
Darren Fletcher returns from suspension and could be joined by Nemanja Vidic. The game looks to be too soon for Rio Ferdinand and Dimitar Berbatov is also a doubt. Sir Alex Ferguson has promised to pick a strong team while also giving some of his young players a chance.
Head to Head
Both teams have 3 wins apiece in alternating years at the City of Manchester Stadium over the last few seasons. Last season, United did the double over City after having the same happen to them the year before.
The 2 teams met earlier this season in a classic Manchester Derby with United coming out on top through a late Michael Owen winner 4-3.
Prediction
It will be interesting to see how Mancini reacts to his first defeat and how fired up his squad is for this game. They have been strong at home this season and have the form player coming in to the game in Carlos Tevez who would surely love to score against his former side after suffering heavy abuse at Old Trafford earlier this season.
United have been struggling but somehow getting through games recently. They look shaky at the back whil seemingly lacking a cutting edge in the final third of the field and it seems the lack of Ronaldo in the side is beginning to take its toll. The team news will be vitally important as a less than stellar side will really struggle here.
I think this is going to be a close match contested by 2 strong teams. United have already missed out on the FA Cup which gives this trophy a little more importance while City are desperate to get the 34 trophy drought monkey off their back. I see a close home win here to set up an electrifying 2nd leg next Wednesday.
The Pick :
Manchester City 2-1 Manchester United
BEST BETTING TIP :
Take Manchester City to WIN
