[Adebesi]

I think Blind is close to being the first name down on the team sheet these days.

Maybe its De Gea. Maybe its Rooney given his special status as captain. Its hard to escape the fact that Di maria is our most dangerous player these days on what we've seen this season.

But id be absolutely astonished if Blind doesnt start. He's vital for us. I think he'll continue to start when Carrick is back as well.

 

[Ole Gunner Scholes]

Possibly. It just grates on me when fans qualify opposition performances in such a way. It's like you're pre-empting a potential defeat by saying it's only down to an opponent trying harder coz they're playing us!

In reality, City winning on Sunday wouldn't necessarily be a consequence of then being 'game raisers'. They're a top side who win a lot.

Yeah Right - You Liverpudilians know everything. If we win, you would be the first one to offer weird explanation why it were the circumstances (missing players, ref decisions, player having an off day, wrong tactics) which made City lose rather than United deserving it due to their quality.

Practice before you preach!!

 

[caisenma]

My team, in case there's a single soul in existence that would be remotely interested, would be the same as against Chelsea except with Rooney in for Mata. This is also based on the assumption that Falcao is not fit to start.

 

[Samrat Mazumdar]

I think we may nick this, albeit a ref decision, or an error by Mangala...lol

 

[Jagga7]

I'm expecting us to lose. City are going through a bad run so its the best time to play them but I still think they will be too good for us.

 

[Havak]

de Gea
Rafael Smalling Rojo Shaw
Fellaini Blind
Januzaj Rooney Di Maria
van Persie​

Probably this?

LvG has said the two best performances were against West Brom and Chelsea using a 4231, so I'm not sure if I expect him to change this against what is still our toughest game of the season so far IMO (Chelsea away is probably the only more difficult game). The only way I can see him changing the personnel involved there is bringing in Herrera for Januzaj. It has to be very unlikely that Rooney won't start, unless he's not 100%

de Gea
Rafael Smalling Rojo Shaw
Fellaini Blind
Di Maria Herrera Rooney
van Persie​

If Rooney isn't fit, Mata probably plays, but I think it would still be a close call between Mata/Januzaj/Herrera for two places.

 

[BenRobbins]

Imagine the effect on our confidence if we put in a hell of a display and win by a few goals. It could really be the catalyst to get us going..

 

[adamwest]

Is Silva out for sure this sunday? He'll be a massive loss for them. Nasri/Navas just aren't anywhere near as effective as him!

Nasri and Navas seemed to do pretty well last year. Silva was out for that game, and they absolutely crushed us.

The old saying 'form goes out the window' couldn't be more spot on for this match. I think it'll be a close game, but I see Aguero and Kompany having particularly clinical games and pulling City over the line.

3-2 City for me.

 

[Ole Gunner Scholes]

I think we may nick this, albeit a ref decision, or an error by Mangala...lol

I am not expecting Mangala to start.

 

[VanGaalEra]

Any update on Silva guys?

 

[Paolo Di Canio]

Id like to see Di maria play in the hole, in sort of a free role, he is class on Fifa ...

 

[gooDevil]

Id like to see Di maria play in the hole, in sort of a free role, he is class on Fifa ...

I'd like to see that at some point as well. Though when he plays in a 3 man midfield he has a similar free role.

 

[Ole Gunner Scholes]

Any update on Silva guys?

Not yet - some sources are saying both Yaya & Silva are doubtful but they are not very trustworthy.

 

[Paolo Di Canio]

I'd like to see that at some point as well. Though when he plays in a 3 man midfield he has a similar free role.

Only if we play the midfield diamond, Rooney needs to be in the hole if we play a 2 man midfield, we need that shield

 

[Trizy]

Is Silva out for sure this sunday? He'll be a massive loss for them. Nasri/Navas just aren't anywhere near as effective as him!

Would be quite happy if they play Navas, Shaw has the pace to keep up with him and the strength to kill him.

 

[MancFanFromManc]

No way the gap is that huge! Last year was an exception man. We are winning this. I can feel it!

Loving your confidence, lets hope so !

 

[SonnyTheHaloPro]

Imagine if Van Goat reaches his 2012/13 form for us, he will surely have gained plenty of confidence in scoring that goal against Chelsea. His all around play is getting there but his finishing is still lacking, the guy could easily be on the same amount of goals as Costa and Augero if he took his chances.

Dunno if Falcao is available for Sunday but his movement can cause City a lot of problems, He seems to be working on a partneship with Rvp but I dunno if we should just play with 1 ST on Sunday, maybe LVG will take the gamble because City's defence is just as shocking as ours right now.

Rooney has to play, hopefully he replaces Juan Mata. He always turns up for the derby and offers a lot defensively, we probably haven't appreciated his defensive contributions as much as we should have over the years.

City are gonna be motivated for this, they are going to come at us guns blazing and probably going straight for the kill. Parking the bus for a little while and not conceding early will not hurt us and should give us confidence to control the game and maybe go for the win late on. Last seasons performance at the Etihad was absolutely unacceptable, hopefully the players realize that and come back with 3 points!

 

[Buchan]

Id like to see Di maria play in the hole, in sort of a free role, he is class on Fifa ...

I'd like to see that at some point as well. Though when he plays in a 3 man midfield he has a similar free role.

I watched him play 45 minutes for Argentina in a free role/no.10 recently against Brazil and he looked uncomfortable there. I'd continue to play him in his midfielder-cum-winger role if we're playing a diamond on Sunday, or on the left of a 4-3-3 where he can swap effortlessly with Januzaj if needs be.

I think Januzaj and Di Maria would cause Clichy and Sagna some problems going forward. Should Zabaleta play (which he probably will), I'd be wary of his attacking threat and darting runs forward. Shaw will need adequate cover in front of him, and let's be honest here, Di Maria hasn't been offering that of late.

Perhaps Blind will be able to cover the space in front of Shaw and watch Zabaleta's runs from deep as well as shielding central defence, who knows? It's a possbility anyway, and I'm sure he'll be tasked with that job should Di Maria start ahead of Shaw. Let's just hope that we make it work better than we did for West Brom's first goal the week before last...

 

[PickledRed]

Yeah Right - You Liverpudilians know everything. If we win, you would be the first one to offer weird explanation why it were the circumstances (missing players, ref decisions, player having an off day, wrong tactics) which made City lose rather than United deserving it due to their quality.

Practice before you preach!!

Bit defensive and not really a counter to what I was saying. Plus I was deliberately general in my point. I'm not saying such excuses are exclusive to United fans - I am simply stating that the game raising excuse is irritating and certainly doesn't apply to City who are an elite side.

 

[Paolo Di Canio]

I watched him play 45 minutes for Argentina in a free role/no.10 recently against Brazil and he looked uncomfortable there. I'd continue to play him in his midfielder-cum-winger role if we're playing a diamond on Sunday, or on the left of a 4-3-3 where he can swap effortlessly with Januzaj if needs be.

I think Januzaj and Di Maria would cause Clichy and Sagna some problems going forward. Should Zabaleta play (which he probably will), I'd be wary of his attacking threat and darting runs forward. Shaw will need adequate cover in front of him, and let's be honest here, Di Maria hasn't been offering that of late.

Perhaps Blind will be able to cover the space in front of Shaw and watch Zabaleta's runs from deep as well as shielding central defence, who knows? It's a possbility anyway, and I'm sure he'll be tasked with that job should Di Maria start ahead of Shaw. Let's just hope that we make it work better than we did for West Brom's first goal the week before last...

I think we would be silly to play one front man against City, Kompany will love that, we need to expose the weakness of Mangala/Clichy and the space in between them, Toure/Fernando will thrive on a 2 man midfield also, a 3 of Herrera/Fellaini/Blind will cause Toure not to get forward as much I feel, and make him work, which he hates, he likes to just pick up the ball and do what he wants, he is not the best defensivley IMO

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Eesh. All the papers are filling up with articles about how City aren't looking bothered this season and we're perfectly poised to turn them over at home.

This won't end well...

 

[Adebesi]

Eesh. All the papers are filling up with articles about how City aren't looking bothered this season and we're perfectly poised to turn them over at home.

This won't end well...

Ogden in the Telegraph will be reassuring then, he says we will be well beaten.

 

[Trizy]

"David has problem in his knee. We will see tomorrow how big is it," Pellegrini said.

"Yaya was with some problem in his groin, but I think that's nothing important."

 

[AdNani]

Seriously looking forward to this, think Herrera will start and swarm all over Toure ala Cleverley in Community Shield , hope Falcao is available as well.

If Silva is out, thats a massive blow for them! easily their most important player

 

[Brightonian]

Possibly. It just grates on me when fans qualify opposition performances in such a way. It's like you're pre-empting a potential defeat by saying it's only down to an opponent trying harder coz they're playing us!

Well... it very obviously does happen. Maybe not that much from City, so your original point is a good one (although as I say, I think he just meant 'raising their game' from the slump they're in at the moment). But Liverpool unquestionably raise their game when they play us. You'd have to be in denial not to acknowledge that one. It's why without fail they'll lose to a couple of teams stuck to the bottom of the table before and after getting a 'famous victory' against us. And a lot of smaller clubs will also put in much better performances against us than against their rivals for places, because it's a chance to beat 'the famous Man United'.

 

[sizzling sausages]

I'd switch back to the diamond for this if Rooney is fit.

De Gea

Rafael
Smalling
Rojo
Shaw

Blind
Herrera
Fellaini
Di Maria

Van Persie
Rooney

Mata, Januzaj and possibly Falcao would be great options to have on the bench.

 

[The Purist]

I apologize if my post came off trying to make your previous post look mad
That wasn't my intention.

Fair enough, no Blind in your setup.
But again, madness...

I think Jones (still injured btw?) can do a decent job as DM, but more so if he has a certain task of taking a player out of the game (Ronaldo / Bale etc) Not sure if thats needed in the same way for this game.

So Blind for me in the DM role, keeps us ticking along nicely!
Gives our CB's way more options in playing out from the back than Jones ever will.


But for shits and giggles:


------ Jones ---- Blind

Di Maria - Rooney - Adnan/Mata

---------Falcao/Van P

But then again, harsh on Fellaini after a couple of decent performances.

Didn't realise Jones was injured. I think Smalling is better in a back 4 but Jones looked infinitely more comfortable in the defensive three, which requires more mobility. He is a defensive midfielder long term for me. You can teach any old fool to pass sideways, just watch Flamini. I have yet to see Blind take the reigns in a big game from a defensive standpoint and that is essentially what he is there to do.

We'll see.. but I think City might just be too good for him in that area.

@RedStarUnited: Thanks for your appreciation of my logic. Chelsea have a tendency to press higher and have a lot of fast attacking midfielders. Jones is better than Blind from a defensive standpoint for me, and I don't think your defensive midfielder will have to withstand heavy pressure this Sunday (not that it would matter anyway, because Blind/Jones are both weak in this area). Blind brings a good passing range, but Fernandinho/Yaya Toure's strengths lie in cutting out passes and clogging the midfield. Blind's talents are less suited to this game than Jones'. Alas, if Jones isn't available: Blind will play.

 

[Rudi j]

Not long now lads...

 

[Fer]

I watched him play 45 minutes for Argentina in a free role/no.10 recently against Brazil and he looked uncomfortable there. I'd continue to play him in his midfielder-cum-winger role if we're playing a diamond on Sunday, or on the left of a 4-3-3 where he can swap effortlessly with Januzaj if needs be.

I think Januzaj and Di Maria would cause Clichy and Sagna some problems going forward. Should Zabaleta play (which he probably will), I'd be wary of his attacking threat and darting runs forward. Shaw will need adequate cover in front of him, and let's be honest here, Di Maria hasn't been offering that of late.

Perhaps Blind will be able to cover the space in front of Shaw and watch Zabaleta's runs from deep as well as shielding central defence, who knows? It's a possbility anyway, and I'm sure he'll be tasked with that job should Di Maria start ahead of Shaw. Let's just hope that we make it work better than we did for West Brom's first goal the week before last...

What about Rooney? I think Rooney and Van Persie are going to start, so I can see 2 options: 4231 or 433 like this

------------De Gea
Rafael - Smalling - Rojo - Shaw
-------Fellaini/Ander - Blind
Januzaj --- Rooney --- Di Maria
-----------RVP/Falcao

-----------De Gea
Rafael - Smalling - Rojo - Shaw
---------------Blind
--------Fellaini --- Ander/Di Maria
Di Maria/Januzaj ------- Rooney​

------------RVP/Falcao

I can't see Van Gaal usign the diamond versus big teams, because he needs wingers to cover the fullbacks. So 4141, 4231 or 433 are more possible.

 

[detinUnaM]

de Gea
Rafael Smalling Rojo Shaw
Fellaini Blind
Januzaj Rooney Di Maria
van Persie​

Probably this?

LvG has said the two best performances were against West Brom and Chelsea using a 4231, so I'm not sure if I expect him to change this against what is still our toughest game of the season so far IMO (Chelsea away is probably the only more difficult game). The only way I can see him changing the personnel involved there is bringing in Herrera for Januzaj. It has to be very unlikely that Rooney won't start, unless he's not 100%

de Gea
Rafael Smalling Rojo Shaw
Fellaini Blind
Di Maria Herrera Rooney
van Persie​

If Rooney isn't fit, Mata probably plays, but I think it would still be a close call between Mata/Januzaj/Herrera for two places.

I think pellegrini will realise that he will not be able to dictate play or keep possession like he wants without Silva. He will definitely target our flanks by playing Navas and through Zabaleta and Kolarov who are currently better fullbacks than ours. We have to be wary of that and definitely start ADM on the flank that Navas plays. Rooney will have no chance of catching him. Other than that the formation and team looks good. I would have Falcao instead of RVP after first half.

 

[Adnan]

Manchester City's David Silva OUT of the derby against United with injury to his knee

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/manchester-citys-david-silva-out-4538343

 

[Ole Gunner Scholes]

Bit defensive and not really a counter to what I was saying. Plus I was deliberately general in my point. I'm not saying such excuses are exclusive to United fans - I am simply stating that the game raising excuse is irritating and certainly doesn't apply to City who are an elite side.

Do you think City can easily beat United without raising their game from the last 3 games they have played so far against CSKA , West Ham & Newcastle?

 

[Browniee]

Manchester City's David Silva OUT of the derby against United with injury to his knee

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/manchester-citys-david-silva-out-4538343

 

[Ole Gunner Scholes]

Manchester City's David Silva OUT of the derby against United with injury to his knee

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/manchester-citys-david-silva-out-4538343

I know i sound like a tool (coz it's an injury to a player) but I would still say it - GET IN EVERYONE!!

 

[AgentP]

If we win this, we have officially turned the corner. Lose it and we are back to square one. A lot depends on the result of this game I feel. Our season so far will be judged based on our performance against them.

Though we may argue that this game is worth just 3 points, it would determine whether we have a chance at pushing for the title or just fighting for top 4.

 

[Ole Gunner Scholes]

Well... it very obviously does happen. Maybe not that much from City, so your original point is a good one (although as I say, I think he just meant 'raising their game' from the slump they're in at the moment). But Liverpool unquestionably raise their game when they play us. You'd have to be in denial not to acknowledge that one. It's why without fail they'll lose to a couple of teams stuck to the bottom of the table before and after getting a 'famous victory' against us. And a lot of smaller clubs will also put in much better performances against us than against their rivals for places, because it's a chance to beat 'the famous Man United'.

More than 90% of Liverpool fans i know are living in "denial" for the past 20 years. Also, they would straightaway deny the fact that they are in denial mode.

 

[AgentP]

With Silva out, we should play 4-1-4-1, two wingers to prevent their attack on the flank. Fellaini to mark Toure. Rooney to support Rvp upfront.

 

[Lewis.no.9]

i would play di maria in mata's position, play a 3 midfield of Blind, Herrera and Fellaini and Rooney uptop with RVP

 

[Raoul]

Is YaYa fit for Sunday ?

 

[DWelbz19]

I'd switch back to the diamond for this if Rooney is fit.

De Gea

Rafael
Smalling
Rojo
Shaw

Blind
Herrera
Fellaini
Di Maria

Van Persie
Rooney

Mata, Januzaj and possibly Falcao would be great options to have on the bench.

I'd also go for this.