It’s Derby Day this Saturday here in the Transfer Tavern and the local Manchester United and Manchester City fans are already firing digs at one another.
The biggest game of the Premier League season so far sees two of the title favourites go head to head at lunch time, as Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola renew hostilities at Old Trafford.
The game will be seen by many as the first indicator of which club is the stronger this season as they both look to lift the Premier League trophy in May, and it looks as though it’s advantage United already with Sergio Aguero ruled out.
City’s best player has been banned following his elbow on Winston Reid in their last game against West Ham and many feel it could just be United’s game to lose.
With no Aguero the Citizens inevitably look weaker and Mourinho will want his side to take advantage and make a real statement to the rest of the league.
Our landlord thinks it could be curtains for City too if the Red Devils get their system right and reckons this 4-2-3-1 should get the result their fans want…
David De Gea
One of the world’s best goalkeepers De Gea will still have to be on top form even with City being without Aguero.
The team from the Etihad have a wealth of attacking stars that can still do the job without the Argentine and it’ll be up to the Spaniard to keep them quiet.
There’s no reason why he won’t though and if he does keep a cleansheet things will be looking very good for United.
Antonio Valencia
Valencia has started the season well and that’s been reflected by Mourinho’s continued selection of him despite the Ecuadorian not in his favoured position.
Valencia will be key to United’s chances in providing them width and pace down that right side whilst also trying to keep Raheem Sterling down City’s left at bay.
It’s a big game for the South American.
Eric Bailly
Bailly has slotted into United’s defence seamlessly and it would have been interesting to see how he would have dealt with Aguero.
That, though, will have to wait for another time and whoever Guardiola puts in instead of his main striker will still give Bailly something to think about.
He’s dealt with everything so far fairly easily but this is a step up so it’ll be intriguing to see how he reacts.
Daley Blind
Chris Smalling is coming back to fitness but Blind has been impressive at centre-half and should start for the Red Devils on Saturday.
The Dutchman can play in a number of different positions and his versatility seems to have made him a hit with Mourinho despite him wanting specialists, so it’s important if he wants to stay in the side he keeps their noisy neighbours quiet.
Luke Shaw
Shaw has bounced back from his horrific leg break brilliantly and looks the player he was before he got injured.
Like Valencia he’ll be tasked with adding pace and width in the attacking phases whilst it’ll be a test of his credentials to see how he deals with Kevin De Bruyne.
The Belgian has the ability to drift and pick up pockets of space and Shaw will have to be right on top of that.
Marouane Fellaini
Many thought Fellaini would be an early casualty of the Mourinho era at Manchester United but he has so far batted away any of those criticisms.
The Portuguese manager obviously likes his physicality in midfield and that could be the key to this game with City’s central midfield positions looking far less physically imposing.
It’s a huge game in Fellaini’s United stay.
Paul Pogba
The world’s most expensive footballer will be expected to run the game and if he can United will be sitting pretty.
Pogba was quiet for large portions of EURO 2016 for France and arguably if he hadn’t have been they’d have won the tournament so a lot of eyes will be on him.
If he does reach his highest level in this game City will find it very tough and United will surely win.
Anthony Martial
Whilst Valencia and Shaw will offer width it’s primarily going to be down to Martial to stretch the legs of the City defence.
The Frenchman is United’s outlet and his delivery will also be key in terms of feeding Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The former Monaco man knows how to perform in the big games after his debut goal against Liverpool and Red Devils fans will be wanting more of the same.
Wayne Rooney
Rooney scored arguably the best goal this tie has ever seen with his acrobatic over-head kick winning the game at Old Trafford a few years ago.
Whether he does that again is up for debate but the Red Devils will still be looking for a top performance from a player who can still win this game by himself.
He’s started well under Mourinho and should be confident of more this weekend.
Juan Mata
Like Fellaini, Mata is a player that seemed destined for the Old Trafford door as Mourinho breezed in but so far the Spaniard has been key.
His talent has never been an issue wherever he’s played and he’ll certainly be important again this weekend.
Mata likes the big games just as his manager does and it wouldn’t be surprising if he was the man of the match come Saturday.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
The big man for the big occasion? He’ll certainly think so.
Ibrahimovic will probably spend this week visualising the moment he bags a goal in the derby this weekend and who can honestly say you’d bet against him?
Games like this are why the former PSG man was brought in and he’s certainly not going to shy away from it. It’s his first derby in England and it’s bound to be memorable.
