Manchester derby

Manchester City V Manchester United

The Manchester derby has in the past thrown up some unexpected results so the first bit of advice that I have is not to bet too big on any outcome here. At first look the 4+ odds on Man City look very very tempting, given the recent results that both sides have had. Man City ran out easy 3 – 0 winners against Arsenal but one look at the league table tells us that they are still only in 14th position, just two mere points ahead of Spurs and Newcastle, two clubs said to be in a “crisis”. The blue half’s biggest problem has been consistency. Big results seem to be followed by poor results and to challenge the top 4 as their intentions are, you need to be beating the likes of Spurs, Bolton and Boro, 3 teams that have beaten Man City in recent times. Enough of the history lesson though, at home Man City have been scoring for fun, averaging close to 3 a game.
Stephen Ireland has been in excellent form of late and lets not forget Robinho who has chipped in with 8 goals.

Last 5 home games

Man. City 6 0 Portsmouth 21/09/2008
Man. City 2 3 Liverpool 05/10/2008
Man. City 3 0 Stoke 26/10/2008
Man. City 1 2 Tottenham 09/11/2008
Man. City 3 0 Arsenal 22/11/2008

Robinho is back after an ankle strain picked up against Arsenal. Petrov and Bojinov are long term absentees. Other than that City have no other problems.

Manchester United are having some unusual problems at the moment. Goals are hard to come by and Wayne Rooney hasn’t hit the net for some time now. Consecutive 0 – 0 draws with Aston Villa and Villareal have not done much to inspire confidence at this moment and apart from a Ronaldo effort midweek against Villareal which crashed of the crossbar they looked a little poor up front. They haven’t had the best of this fixture either in recent times and will be keen to get revenge for losing both derbies last season.

Last 5 away games

Chelsea 1 1 Man. Utd. 21/09/2008
Blackburn 0 2 Man. Utd. 04/10/2008
Everton 1 1 Man. Utd. 25/10/2008
Arsenal 2 1 Man. Utd. 08/11/2008
Aston Villa 0 0 Man. Utd. 22/11/2008


After picking up a knock on International duty it appears that Berbatov is back in the fold though he may have to settle for a place on the bench alongside Gary Neville. Scholes looks set to miss also.

Verdict
Given the recent bickering between the two clubs and the jibes from Rooney and Ferguson (about City being a mid table club despite the invesments) it is safe to say that City will not need any motivation coming into this one. However on the other side of the fence United were beaten twice in the derby last year and don’t need to be reminded of that fact. Bottom line is that derbies like this are a bit of a lottery and il be looking for a few value bets in this one. A game to sit back relax and have a few pints in the process. Its Robinho’s first Manchester derby and with the spotlight, media attention and the camera’s on him it might be worth a few quid on him to get his 9th goal in 9 games at the Eastlands. A jab at the 2 – 2 correct scoreline should keep me interested throughout also.
Good luck!


PICKS
Robinho anytime scorer (3.8 @ unibet) 3 points
Correct score 2 – 2 ( 17 @ boylesports) 1 point


More to follow in the morning