What Have the Journalists Predicted for the Manchester Derby?
6 Dec
As the build-up to Sunday’s intriguing encounter intensifies, I asked a number of journalists and media figures for their opinions on how the match may unfold. Here is what they said:
Franny Lee, Former City player and chairman: 3-1 City! It will hopefully be the performance where a few things that have been missing click!
Oliver Kay, Chief Football Correspondent for The Times newspaper: I’ve generally felt City have had the upper hand going into recent derby matches, but this time I’m less sure. Neither is playing terribly well at the moment and both have a few key players off-form. Whether mentally or physically, Yaya Toure and Aguero seem to be suffering a hangover from last season.
If it’s an off-day for both teams, I would think United, with Van Persie up front, have the greater capacity to get through it. I would also think Ferguson must have learned from the way he played into City’s hands last season – too open at Old Trafford, too negative at the Etihad. But I’ll go for a slightly anticlimactic 1-1 draw.
Ian Cheeseman, BBC Radio Manchester’s City commentator and North West Sports Journalist of the Year 2012: City can beat ANYONE including United. I can’t begin to guess which team will be selected, I’d go for Aguero and Tevez up front. City need to win, and certainly won’t want to lose, United will be very highly motivated after last season, but I don’t do predictions. Naturally I’m hoping for a City win.
Daniel Taylor, Chief football writer for the Guardian and Observer: At the risk of being called a rag (it won’t be the first time) I think United might sneak this one. Let’s be honest, it could go either way, but they were shockingly awful in the game in April and Ferguson’s tactics were so negative I’d probably go as far as to say he might never have had a worse night, tactically. They can’t be that bad again. Or at least I don’t think they can be.
I’m interested to see if Mancini plays Dzeko ahead of Aguero or Tevez on the basis of United’s defending against Reading last weekend. Anyway, deep breath .. City 2 United 3. An unexpected goal-fest.
James Ducker, Northern Football Correspondent of The Times newspaper: It’s been a strange season so far to say the least and, personally, I’d say the fact that United and City are ten and seven points clear respectively of Chelsea in third even though neither have played well says as much about their superiority in the Premier League as the inferiority of their rivals.
The derby will be intriguing on various counts – if United go behind, as seems likely given that they have trailed in 10 of their 15 league matches so far, will they have the firepower and wherewithal to come back against a team who, despite their own problems, are not the sort to implode when they go ahead?
Even though other areas of their team aren’t clicking, City are starting to get it together defensively – Vincent Kompany, Matija Nastasic and Pablo Zabaleta are all playing very well – although they have shown a susceptibility from dead-ball situations and crosses into the box, something Everton exploited on Saturday and something United have proved quite dangerous from this season.
I look at United’s central midfield and the full-back areas, though, and I just think they are ripe for exploitation, especially against the very top teams. Still, few of City’s big name players have played to anything approaching their capability this season and will need to step up a gear against United. Carlos Tevez started well enough but has faded, Sergio Aguero has been very good on occasion but average on plenty of others and then there is Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri who have been spectacularly off the pace by their own high standards.
Prediction – City to win 2-1 and maintain their two year unbeaten run in the league at the Etihad Stadium.
Guillem Balague, Spanish football expert for Sky Sports, BBC Radio 5Live, TalkSport and more: I had a bet with a top La Liga player about this game (I won’t mention his name or the result we predicted) and we both agreed on the outcome. If we get it right (plus the results of the Reading, Wigan and Liverpool games) we are going to earn around 800 euros! With that, I’m trying to say it’s certainly the match of the weekend.
Two teams that have decided that scoring more than the opposition is the way forward. I see a more solid City at the back but both of them prefer to rely on the talent upfront. They allow the opposition space and time with the ball and you wish they both had more collective defensive work to make things even more difficult for the opposition. Home advantage should be key.
Rob Dawson, Football writer covering Man City and Man United for the Manchester Evening News: It’s not a ground-breaking prediction but I’m expecting a tight game between two good teams on Sunday. Saying that, I remember saying the same before the Old Trafford derby last season and look what happened.
If anyone has a slight advantage it’s City because of their fantastic home record but United are a different team from last year and they’ve already won at Chelsea and Liverpool this season.
It’s still very early in the season and I think if both managers were honest – which they won’t be in the build-up – they’d probably take a point if you offered it to them now. The title will be won and lost on another day and Roberto Mancini and Sir Alex Ferguson will both be aware of that. That will effect how they set up their teams and I think they’ll cancel each other out for much of the game.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends 0-0.
Ollie Holt, Chief Sports Writer for the Daily Mirror: The derby on Sunday has a slightly strange feel to it. United and City are first and second in the Premier League but recent performances have suggested they are not in the best of form. City’s Champions League campaign turned into a humiliation, even if they were in the strongest group, and even Ferguson likened United’s defending at Reading on Saturday evening to cartoon capers.
I think it’s going to be a draw, probably a score draw, and hopefully a decent game. I think City might have the better of it, just. They seem a bit more solid at the moment, although only marginally. Whatever happens, I think they’ll be the top two at the end of the season.
Score prediction: 2-2.
Iain Macintosh, Football writer for The New Paper, ESPN and others: Oddly, for two teams now stretching out ahead of the chasing pack, neither United or City have looked particularly impressive this season. Ferguson’s side are scoring more than two a game but are weak in the middle and wobbly at the back, while Mancini’s quest for tactical versatility seems to have cost his team their cohesion. In a game sure to be introduced with the line, “ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN….AND IT’S LIVE!” I’m going to bet that nothing happens….and it’s crap. 0-0 for me.
Jamie Jackson, Manchester football correspondent of Guardian/Observer: One team, Manchester United, can’t stop scoring, conceding and winning; the other, Manchester City, has the best defence, is struggling for goals and continues to draw.
The toss can be argued either way whether this means it will be a goal fest or barren exchange at the Etihad Stadium but after losing 7-1 on aggregate over the two derbies last season and with it the title, United know this is the day to make their first signal statement of the season.
City’s statement has already been made: the way they have arrived in early December unbeaten and trailing United by three points sends the message they will still be there in May.
I take City to win, again, against United.
Stuart Brennan, Manchester City reporter at the Manchester Evening News: I think midfield will be the key area again, and if Silva plays, and Yaya Toure can find some form, City again have a huge advantage in that area. But I do have a sneaky feeling that, like two years ago, it might just be a bit of a wash-out. All things being equal, City are stronger, and I go for a 2-1 win, Tevez and Aguero one apiece.
Steven Wyeth, Manchester based football commentator and sports broadcaster: The timing might not be as critical as the last Eastlands derby but the outcome is likely to be just as crucial. That’s because United or City will win the title again this season (Chelsea set the pace but are now 10 points off it) so matches between the two will be hugely significant.
Just as in April, United take a three point advantage into the match, and City have the better goal difference. So again the onus will be on City to reclaim top spot, and again I don’t expect there to be more than one goal in it. However, judging by the way United’s season has gone so far it could just as easily be one goal in seven or nine! That said, we’re due something clinical from the Reds so I fancy them this time.
Score prediction City 1-2 United.
Michael Cox, Editor of Zonal Marking and writer for ESPN and The Guardian: I’m not sure it will be a fascinating tactical clash, because I think both sides have been messing around with systems and shapes this season, and both lack cohesion (despite their position at the top of the league, which I think is more down to individual quality than great strategy).
I think the key for City is getting men in the space between the lines, and although Balotelli had a big impact last year and Dzeko’s done well at points this season, the combination Mancini should surely use is Tevez and Aguero – Tevez floating in the ‘red zone’ and exploiting United’s lack of a holder, and Aguero providing pace over the top. With Silva coming inside to offer another threat behind the midfield, I think City have a very good chance of winning the game.
Prediction: City to win 2-0.
Chris Cohen, Freelance television presenter: I think this game could be exactly what City need to get their season really firing. I know they are second in the Premier League, just three points behind leaders United, but I don’t think they have come close to finding top gear yet and they have looked a long way off their best. A fiery encounter against their closest rivals, both geographically and competitively will, I think, be just what the players need to motivate themselves and produce their best. United, whilst top, have looked alarmingly open at the back and this is something that City will be keen to exploit.
It’ll be a tough game to call, with both sides not playing their best football as of yet and their league positions being as much down to the inconsistency of Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal as anything else. I’m going to go for a game with plenty of goals but the spoils shared, 2-2.
Mike Keegan, Sports News Correspondent for the Manchester Evening News: It’s a strange one. Usually going into a derby one side is in better form than the other but both seem to be a bit under-par at the moment. What I would say is that while United’s defence won’t perform as badly as they did at Reading if City’s strikers can click it could get very ugly for them. I still think, like last season, that the Blues have a better first XI and with home advantage I can’t see them losing.
I read Stuart Brennan’s Everton match report in which he made some great points about how things have been going this year and took a pop at some of the crisis mongers. City, with the exception of Saturday, are grinding out wins without being at their best which is exactly what they say a champion side does, isn’t it?
If United nabbed a draw it wouldn’t surprise me but I’ll go for a City win, 1-0 and a return to the top of the table.
James Maw, Writer/Online Features Editor for FourFourTwo: Last time they visited the Etihad, Manchester United paid the price for being a little over-cautious. Given the gung-ho fashion they’ve adopted so far this season, it seems unlikely they’ll bit quite so withdrawn this time round.
But City, for all the head-scratching over Roberto Mancini’s experiments with three at the back – have generally looked more solid defensively this season; they’ve only conceded 11 in the league so far – four fewer than this stage of 2011/12. Only two of those goals have come in the seven league matches in which Matija Nastasic has featured, which perhaps helps indicate exactly how well he’s slotted in alongside Vincent Kompany.
It’ll be at that end of the pitch the game is won or lost – City should be capable of scoring, and I think they’ll do so twice.
Prediction: City 2-1 United
I have a bad feeling about this one