Manchester City vs. Manchester United – Eastlands, Manchester England 2 PM EST Tuesday January 19, 2010
by Jason Green at Predictem.com
Match Odds: This match is pretty even with Manchester City the slight favorites posted at 2.74 with Manchester United posted at 2.86 and a draw at 3.45.
Over/Under: 2.5 goals
In the Carling Cup, which is the English league cup, Manchester City hosts Manchester United in the first leg of the semifinals. These teams are no strangers to each other, as they have faced 153 times and the last time these 2 met it was a great match in the Premiership, as Man U beat Manchester City 4-3 at Old Trafford. New look Manchester City have not won the Carling Cup in 34 years and to end that streak they will have to beat a stacked Man U squad that is in 2nd place in the English Premier League.
Manchester City has played well this season and is in 5th place in the Premier League 10 points behind Chelsea. They have scored 42 goals while giving up 30 and they will face a Man U squad that has scored 49 goals and only given up 19. Even though Manchester City is the slight favorite in this match they will be without the services of several players.
This match features a couple of players that rank in the top 5 in the Premier League in scoring this season, as Man U’s Wayne Rooney ranks 1st in goals scored (15) and Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez ranks 4th (12). This match may see a lot of offense, but Manchester City has to play solid defense, as any away goal for Man U will hurt City once they play at Old Trafford for the 2nd leg of this home and away semifinals series.
Manchester City Recent Form:
1/16/2010 Everton 2 Manchester City 2 (Premier League)
1/11/2010 Manchester City 4 Blackburn (Premier League)
1/2/2010 Middlesbrough 0 Manchester City (FA Cup)
12/28/2009 Wolverhampton 0 Manchester City 3 (Premier League)
12/26/2009 Manchester City 2 Stoke City 0 (Premier League)
Manchester United Recent Form:
1/16/2010 Man U 3 Burnley 0 (Premier League)
1/9/2010 Birmingham 1 Man U 1 (Premier League)
1/3/2010 Man U 0 Leeds 1 (FA Cup)
12/30/2009 Man U 5 Wigan 0 (Premier League)
12/27/2010 Hull City 1 Man U 3 (Premier League)
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini may miss several key players in this match, as Roque Santa Cruz, Patrick Vieria, Wayne Bridge, Joleon Lescott, Nedum Onuoha, and Michael Johnson are all out due to injuries. Stephen Ireland has a tweaked hamstring, but he will start the match on the bench and is on the active roster.
One thing that may hurt City’s offense is that striker Emmanuel Adebayor is out for this match on compassion leave after the Togo national team bus was fired upon at the African Cup of Nations tournament. Adebayor is the 2nd leading scorer for City this season with 6 goals.
Manchester United also has several players out for this match with Dimitar Berbatov, Ben Foster, Owen Hargreaves, Federico Macheda, and John O’Shea all out due to injuries. Top-flight defender Rio Ferdinand may play in this match, but his troublesome calf may keep him rested until the weekend.
Wayne Rooney has been a goal-scoring machine this season and he scored a goal in the last match up with Manchester City and even though City will key on him in this game he will find the back of the net.
Tevez will come out firing in this match against his former squad and I see him scoring in this match.
Manchester United is 6-2-2 scoring 24 goals and giving up 7 in their last 10 matches and Manchester City is 5-3-2 scoring 21 goals and giving up 16 in their last 10 matches.
Manchester United’s offense has been playing well as of late, as in 7 of their last 10 games they have gone Over the posted total of 2.5 goals.
Manchester City is 7-3-0 in their last 10 matches at home.
Jason’s Pick: This is a cup game, but both managers will play their best players if they are available. Manchester City may be hungrier in this match, as they want to end their silverware drought. City will come out firing and they will win this match against their rivals. However, Man U will score a precious away goal. Take Manchester City to win this match with the Over also a good pick.
