by Colin the King » Tue Apr 13, 2010 8:43 pm
The key is that derbies really are unpredictable and form goes out the window- think about when we stuffed them 4-1 or 3-1 a few years ago- we were a pretty dire side at the time but the passion and aggression saw us through. It's almost in reverse now, we're in scintillating form and they've been really poor recently, struggling over the finish line. On form it's a City win all day long but it's not that simple with them.
I think though f we can try and somehow nullify Nani and Valencia it gives us a better chance of winning- their midfield is nothing special, so Barry and de Jong should be capable of taking care of that, but out wide they can be really dangerous and the prospect of Garrido or Sylvinho having to deal with their onslaught is pretty scary. If Bridge is back that'll help massively, and once Ned keeps his cool, he has enough pace and power to deal with Nani on the other side. If Rooney plays, he won't be 100% and might even aggravate his injury, if he doesn't play, they're left with Berbatov- who's capable of something special but very rarely delivers it- and then just kids. Evra always worries me as well, overlapping from left back. I reckon shutting them out in the wide areas and stopping the supply should see us through.
Ade is in top form, and will fancy himself against an out-of-sorts Ferdinand, especially with his pace on the counter, Bellamy will humiliate whoever plays at right-back, and you can put your house on Carlitos scoring. If we set out from the first minute with the mindset that we'll beat them, we probably will- but playing the containment game never works against the filth and I hope Mancini recognises that and keeps up the recent attacking tactics.
With Spurs and Chelsea playing later that day the title and 4th place could be nearly wrapped up by 7pm.
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