Derby Preview - Man City v United

Competition: Barclay's Premier League
Kick-Off & Date: 12:45pm, Saturday 17th April
Venue: Eastlands (Away)
Live TV Coverage: Sky Sports 1 (HD & 3D), 12pm - 3:15pm

Referee: Martin Atkinson (Yorkshire, England)
Assistant Referees: Michael Murphy & Martin Yerby
Fourth Official: Mike Jones


Form: City have recently hit top-form, with Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor coming good with goals - between them they have scored 41 goals this season, 35 of them in The League. City have now scored 14 times in their last 3 matches, against Birmingham, Burnley and Wigan. 

United have won 56 out of 142 Manchester League Derbies, with City winning 37, while 48 ended in draws. United have won the last three League games against the 'noisy neighbours', but it won't be as easy this time - The Reds have hit an all-time low, losing 2 (feels like 3, Bayern Munich) of their last four games, drawing one, and winning on the night against Bayern - in the process they have got kicked-out of Europe, and knocked off-course for the Premier League Title...

The Injury Front: City will have defender Wayne Bridge back after missing five matches. Patrick Vieira is expected to return after picking-up an injury against Birmingham, Stephen Ireland is also in contention after injury, while Pablo Zabaleta is free from suspension. But Joleon Lescott, Martin Petrov and Michael Johnson are all expected to be in the stands.

Squad: Given, Nielsen, Onuoha, Kay, Boyata, Kompany, Toure, Bridge, Garrido, Sylvinho, Adam Johnson, Cunningham, Zabaleta, De Jong, Barry, Bellamy, Wright-Phillips, Tevez, Santa Cruz, Adebayor, Ibrahim, Nimely.

United have again been hit with a string of injuries, Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand and John O'Shea are all doubtful after limping-off against Blackburn last weekend. Wayne Rooney is expected to return, with that, the return of goals. Whilst Wes Brown, Danny Welbeck, Michael Owen and Anderson all remain on the sidelines. Owen Hargreaves may not return to the first team before then end of the season, but World Cup Betting odds hold him as a strong contender to feature in England's 2010 campaign... 

Squad: Van Der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster, Neville, O'Shea, Rafael, De Laet, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Carrick, Hargreaves, Scholes, Fletcher, Park, Gibson, Obertan, Valencia, Giggs, Nani, Berbatov, Rooney, Macheda, Diouf.


Your Need-To-Knows;

The Gaffer: Roberto Mancini is quite a weird bloke, he wears a scarf 24-7, he looks girly - but then he goes and attacks David Moyes ! - and is fined £20,000, along with a touchline ban. However, despite his actions, City look set to finish fourth and play European football for once. So, can The Reds stop 'em at Eastlands ? 

Most Feared: Carlos Tevez is City's best player by far, recently being nominated for the PFA Player of the Year awards. He has scored a fantastic figure of 28 goals in his debut season for City, making 37 appearances. The Argy striker has already scored four goals against his former club, and our defence will need to be rock-solid to keep him from adding to his tally ! 

The Ref: Martin Atkinson will take charge at Eastlands, after Steve Bennett pulled-out in the last minute. City fans will remember him for playing 6 minutes of stoppage time at Old Trafford, when United won 4-3. He has taken charge of four Reds games this season, including some disgraceful decisions against Chelsea in Stamford Bridge...