Incredibly, Manchester United have a chance to draw level with Manchester City on points in Saturday’s Manchester Derby.
For the first time in a while, both Manchester teams are under equal pressure heading into the local rivalry.
United’s struggles are well documented, but City aren’t firing on all cylinders either. They lost 2 – 0 to Crystal Palace in their last Premier League game.
Unlike previous iterations of Guardiola’s team, this City has an unconvincing performance in them. This year of all years they really cannot afford that.
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It’s not just Liverpool they have to compete with for the title. Chelsea are strong this year, too. A few more disappointing results and City’s title charge could be over.
Failure to score against the likes of Palace and Southampton is emblematic of how City play. They have an incredible system that does not feature a striker. Every time they don’t score the same question will be asked – should they have bought a center forward?
United have the opposite problem. They have one of the best goalscorers in the world up front in Cristiano Ronaldo. The issue for Solsjkaer’s men is that the entire team has to accommodate Ronaldo. Their overall performance suffers in return for Ronaldo’s goals.
The upcoming Manchester Derby could well be a case of system VS individuality. In a just world, City’s system would prevail over United’s battering ram. However, the Manchester Derby isn’t always simple. In fact, United tend to play well in this game and could easily steal a result.
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The chasing pack will be rooting for a United win. It would mean United, Arsenal and West Ham could be in with a chance of getting third, not just fourth. The 3rd/4th/5th/6th positions in the table are beginning to open up. The last thing City need is to be sucked into that vortex.
