Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini is aware that his team require three points against rivals Manchester United to ease doubts over his team at the Etihad Stadium.
City lie in third spot in the Premier League table, but their struggles in the Champions League and Capital One Cup and no victory in three games has done little to brighten the mood at the club.
Pellegrini also suffered a blow in midweek when David Silva suffered a knee injury in the 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United, leaving the Spaniard to spend the next "three to four weeks" on the sidelines.
However, the Chilean boss has options available to him as he contemplates a replacement, with Aleksandar Kolarov, James Milner and Stevan Jovetic all in with a shout of a starting place.
Frank Lampard is likely to remain sidelined, while Eliaquim Mangala should get the nod over Martin Demichelis in defence.
United make the short trip across the city buoyed by their last-minute draw against league leaders Chelsea last weekend.
Louis van Gaal's team weren't overly convincing at times, but it was an improvement from some of their previous performances and they only sit one point behind Arsenal and Liverpool in the standings.
Captain Wayne Rooney returns after sitting out the last three games through suspension, with the England international also overcoming an ankle knock to start on Sunday.
Teammate Radamel Falcao will miss the game, though, after failing to recover from a knock picked up in training last week.
Midfielder Ander Herrera could be included by Van Gaal after only featuring on the bench against Chelsea.
Recent form
Manchester City: DWWDLL
Manchester United: WLWLDD
Possible starting lineups
Manchester City: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Mangala, Clichy; Toure, Fernando, Navas, Milner; Aguero, Dzeko
Manchester United: De Gea; Rafael, Smalling, Rojo, Shaw; Blind, Fellaini; Herrera, Di Maria; Rooney; Van Persie
Opta facts
Yaya Toure has scored in three of his last four Premier League appearances against Man Utd.
Man City have won the last three Manchester derbies in the Premier League. They have not won four in a row in the league since December 1970.
Wayne Rooney is the top scorer in Manchester derbies, both overall and in the Premier League – 11 in all comps and eight in the Premier League.
Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero have both scored four goals in five Premier League appearances against United.
Predictions
Sports Mole says: 2-1
Enekem Greg Says: 2-0
Tori (UK) says : 1-1
Paul Merson (Sky Sport) says : 1-1
NOTE: All Predictions Must be dropped in the comment box before KICK OFF , And the prize Is #2,000Naira recharge card of any network of your choice .
They match will start at 14:30 Gmt ( 2:30pm , West African Time)
Goodluck
Enekem.com
No comments:
Post a Comment
Disclaimer:
Drop Comments
*Comments on this blog are NOT posted by ANY STAFF OF ENEKEM.
*ENEKEM Readers are SOLELY responsible for the comments they post on Enekem.com
*cheers*