As a Man United fan I feel I need to convince you, as well as myself, that they will win the league this season. To be honest, it is very hard to call at the minute but here are five reasons we might – just – sneak – it:
Firstly, United usually find an extra gear in the second half of the season. They have matched Man City pretty much blow for blow in the first five months of the season despite some erratic form and some serious injuries.
Anderson and Chris Smalling have returned in recent games, with Tom Cleverley, Ashley Young and Jonny Evans not far behind, so United will feel they can kick on and start a good run. Add to this the inevitable return to top form of Nani and United’s squad doesn’t look as thin as it did a couple of weeks ago.
As well as this, there is the fact that City don’t look as invincible as they did earlier in the season. They have dropped ten points since 27 November, having only dropped two before that. They will also be without Kolo Toure for the next two months due to the African Cup of Nations.
This is no great loss, but now Roberto Mancini is likely to also be without Vincent Kompany for at least four games after he was sent off on Sunday. As it was Kompany’s second red card of the season, the ban was likely to come with an extra game and as City have now made a frivolous appeal, Kompany could theoretically miss five games.
Yaya Toure will be at the African Cup of Nations for the next two months. The elder Toure is vital to the way City play. He gives them attack and defence in the middle of the park, a role which James Milner doesn’t have the skill or intelligence to produce and Gareth Barry is, well Gareth Barry.
Playing a combination of De Jong/Barry/Milner in central midfield will cause City to play more defensively, meaning the likes of Silva and Aguero will receive the ball a lot less, or at least, a lot deeper than usual.
One of the defining factors in United’s favour is, and always has been, Sir Alex Ferguson. Although Roberto Mancini is a very good manager and has won titles as player and manager in Italy, Fergie is the man to beat. He has been in every situation imaginable in title run-ins.
He will know what to say to his players, when to say it, when to play mind games in the media. His team selection has come into question recently, with back to back defeats, but United were unlucky against Blackburn and Newcastle was hopefully an anomaly.
The City players too, have never been involved in a tight Premier League title race. The pressure will eventually tell. Samir Nasri hasn’t recaptured his form from when he was in Arsenal shirt and David Silva has gone slightly off the boil in last couple of weeks, perhaps not as comfortable being the star of the show. Then there is Mario Balotelli.
Someone who is always likely to do something extraordinary, whether it be good or bad. Balotelli is a very gifted player and could be key to City keeping their form going towards the end of the season, but he also has the capacity for a stupid sending off or training ground fight – something which could derail City come April.
This season has been hugely unpredictable already and there will be countless twists and turns to come but the title race may end up coming down to one game – Man City v Man United on the 28th April. That is when we will find out who this season’s champions are.
