The Manchester derby has rarely gone according to form. The team that is in the ascendency or rather ahead in terms of league standing has been, more often than not, the victor.
However, it is hard to judge this time round which side is worse off and needs the points in Sunday's blockbuster. United and City are both locked at 7 points after 4 games so its statistically hard to say which side has had the more difficult start to the season.
However, given the nature of opposition that United have had at the start of the season, their points haul is certainly nothing to be embarrassed about. I personally thought that 10 points from our opening 5 games would be a good return given our fixture schedule. As it stands, we are three points off that target so a win o Sunday will have United where they could have hopped to be when the fixtures were released.
David Moyes will be judged, among other things, on results against his direct rivals. He's already failed to get the win at against Liverpool and Chelsea and now has a third opportunity to make his mark against a side whom he has a fantastic record against. Thankfully that great record is against the side his new club like to beat as often as they meet them.
What many United fans will hope for though is the kind of performance that the lads put out on Tuesday against Bayer Leverkusen. City look a different side with Kompany so our forwards need to be sharper than they were at Anfield. It will be interesting who of the colossal figures of Fellaini and Yaya Toure wins the midfield battle. It is the test many will wait for our Belgian to pass before they pass judgement on him.
David Moyes has so far done just about enough to keep the criticism as low as possible. A result on Sunday will go a long way to ensure that he wins over yet another bunch of fans and critics.
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS!Labels: PREVIEWS
