The first installment of this season’s Manchester Derby takes place on Wednesday at Eastlands. Manchester United are coming off of a dramatic win at home where South Korean midfielder Ji-Sung Park bagged a brace with the winner coming very late on. It was one of those weekends in the Premier League where not only did United win, albeit not very convincingly, but also a weekend where teams either side of the Red Devils lost.
United will of course only be worried about their results, but Chelsea’s 0-2 loss at Anfield and Arsenal’s 1-0 loss to Newcastle seems to have implemented a ‘top 2’ in the league. As far as the win v Wolves, United were far from their cohesive best as what was very close to a B squad experienced a myriad of problems in attempting to dispose of Wolves. Bebe was quite poor in midfield while Gabriel Obertan and John O’Shea, although decent on the day, failed to provide any real spark of creativity for United.
Manchester City are too coming off of a win. City traveled to the Hawthorns where they disposed of a West Brom side who’ve commited to playing football this season to the tune of some fine results. Summer signing Mario Balotelli proved a good buy when he too scored a brace for the Citizens. Balotelli also saw red in the game and will now serve a three match ban.
With Carlos Tevez back in the lineup, City will always pose a threat in attack. David Silva has been in scintillating form for the past month and with Balotelli now out, the possibility of a start for winger Adam Johnson could prove daunting for United’s defense.
As City continue to ambitiously spend an inordinate amount of money on new blood, each installment of the Manchester Derby grows in stature and anticipation. And just as City’s attack starts to congeal, so too does United’s defense began to instill that bit of confidence into the rest of the team.
On Wednesday, all eyes will be on Eastlands as the Manchester Derby is sure to thrill. So who takes the three points and the crown of Manchester’s finest?
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