Manchester Derby : Five Talking Points

It’s that time of the year again when Manchester becomes the center of the world, when Manchester City and Manchester United clash to assert themselves as Kings of Manchester. As the derby approaches, let’s have a look at 5 talking points of the match.

1. Crucial in terms of the league

Even though the city of Manchester has become the epicenter for  one of the most anticipated clashes in world football, this time it is more special. With City at top of the table with 21 points, United are placed third with 19 points to their name. Though this is only the 10 match of the season, this can give a boost in the title race to whichever team wins it. Both teams are coming from impressive wins in Premier League, and though City have been more prolific, they will be vary of the side that beat them 4-2 last time they clashed at Old Trafford.

1. A point to prove for United

Louis van Gaal’s United started the season brilliantly. With Juan Mata and Anthony Martial leading the charge, the Red Devils were top of the table after comprehensively beating Liverpool. But a 3-0 defeat against Arsenal at Emirates, has once again raised doubts if the current United side is capable of winning the league. It was not just the defeat, but the nature of it. Even though United’s defense were missing left-back Luke Shaw, the way Arsenal’s attack shred it to pieces, it was a wake up call for Van Gaal. So a win against City will be really crucial for confidence of the fans as well as the players so that they can come out on top against the  best teams in the league.

1. Can City deal without Aguero and Silva?

Aguero scored a wonderful 5 goal haul against New Castle, and got injured again. This has been the pattern for the Argentine throughout his City career. And with David Silva also missing, it will certainly affect City – after all those are arguably their two best players. History has proved that City have often missed these two players, especially David Silva. But with Sterling and Kevin de Bruyne in good form, City have great depth in their side, but Manuel Pellegrini would have loved to have those two fit. It will be interesting to see how the new attacking side would look like, led by Wilfried Bony of City pan out in their first Manchester Derby.

1. Last chance for Depay and Rooney?

It’s a match in which Memphis Depay must perform, if he starts. Playing in his first derby, and definitely in the most crucial match in his United career, Depay will have to show what he has in his locker. The marquee signing has struggled this season, and have only shown glimpses of why he was touted as next Ronaldo. Whereas fellow new signing Anthony Martial has been very impressive; if the Dutch international doesn’t step up, it won’t be long before he could be dropped by Van Gaal, who may want to play Ashley Young instead.

Wayne Rooney has been an integral part of Manchester Derbies. He is the top scorer of the fixture with 11 goals to his name. His overhead kick is probably the best goal scored in the fixture. But the United captain has been in poor form this season. Losing his scoring touch, he has been slow in midfield as well. But a strong performance against Everton might just have saved his place in the team. With the likes of Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini on the bench, it might just be the stage where Rooney would like to answer his critics.

1. Will Kompany Feature?

Manchester City have a great backline. They have a lot of depth and it turned out to be a blessing when Vincent Kompany got injured. From then on Eliaquim Mangala and Nicolas Otamendi have taken over the defensive duties and this has been pretty effective. It’s a good thing to have options but problem for Pellegrini is, he might pick the wrong one. When a player of Vincent Kompany’s stature is available, any manager in the world would be tempted to pick him, but the following comments made by City’s manager have raised doubts over whether the Belgian will start or not:

“They are both playing very well,” he said of Nicolas Otamendi and Eliaquim Mangala, when asked if captain Vincent Kompany would come in for the derby. “On Thursday we will start thinking about the derby. We have a lot of different things to think about for the next game.”