What: English Premier League

Who: Manchester United (2nd) vs. Manchester City (3rd)

When: Sunday 20th September, 2009, at 13:30 UK Time

Where: Old Trafford, Manchester, England

 

Close call

 

A few minutes was all that separated Turkish champions Besiktas from denying Manchester United their first three points of the new competitive continental season. The reigning English champions endured long spells of struggle against a hard Turkish side at the Inonu Stadium, before echoing loud voices of joy as Paul Scholes slotted home a header that proved to be their match winner. However, Sir Alex Ferguson will be without his combative midfield terrier as Scholes was handed a second yellow for a hard tackle on Spurs’ Tom Huddlestone, and will therefore miss the Manchester derby as he goes back to football school to try and ace Tackling 101.

 

1 down 3 to go

 

Manchester City extended their impressive league record against “big four” club Arsenal last weekend, and even Emmanuel Adebayor’s antics could not dampen the feeling of a first proper test passed. With the Gunners out of their way, the Citizens tackle their biggest hurdle of the season so far in the form of last year’s champions, cross town rivals United. Mark Hughes’ team will be looking to batter their second giant in a row when the Welshman meets one of his former clubs, and then go on to better Chelsea and Liverpool. Both Mancunian clubs faced London opposition last week, and both enjoyed clean wins. Now they tussle with each other in a game which could have huge importance.

 

Recent form

 

Manchester United:

 

Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal (Premier League)

Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Manchester United (Premier League)

Besiktas 0-1 Manchester United (Champions League)

 


Manchester City:

 

Manchester City 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers (Premier League)

Portsmouth 0-1 Manchester City (Premier League)

Manchester City 4-2 Arsenal (Premier League)

 

Players to watch

 

Manchester United – Wayne Rooney: The former Everton star has scored in all of the games United have played so far, if of course you leave out the stumble against Burnley. Rooney has been in red hot form for club and country as of late, and should his team ban the blue colour from Manchester this Sunday, he will be the first in proclaiming the new decree.

 

Manchester City – Craig Bellamy: The Welshman must have felt under pressure when Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez and Roque Santa Cruz all arrived, but now he has a real chance to shine. With the former Liverpool striker looking likely to be City’s only fully fit front-man this is a classic opportunity for him to stake a claim to be part of the bright new future at Eastlands. A battle such as this is one Bellamy will relish.

 

Match prediction

 

Derbies in Europe have come early this year, but that does not make them any less of an attraction. Both teams have enjoyed an equal start, and both have key players missing in the form of Scholes, Adebayor, Robinho and Carlos Tevez (though Man City are weakened slightly more). With Man Utd playing on home soil, the balance tips in their favour, but with the gaps left by the departed Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez – guess where – still not fully filled, and a long trip to Turkey in midweek, the teams will most likely cancel themselves out at this point of the campaign. A 1-1 draw seems like the most reasonable outcome.

 

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