Manchester United vs City Preview & Live Score: 20 September 2009

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Manchester United vs City Live Updates: 20 September 2009

Manchester United hosts Manchester City in the first Manchester derby of the season on 20 September 2009. Moreover, this will be the first clash between the same city rivals after Manchester City strengthened their squad over Summer 2009 transfer window. However, United has little to worry about City’s highly strong attacking line up because City has to visit Old Trafford without four of their key strikers including Carlos Tevez, Robinho, Roque Santa Cruz and Emmanuel Adebayor who has been suspended for three premier league games for his seemingly intentional attack on Robin van Persie during their 4-2 win.

Match: Manchester United vs Manchester City; English Premier League 2009-10

Date: 20 September 2009

Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester, England

Kick off: 13:30 BST (British Summer Time); 12:30 GMT

Live on TV: Sky Sports 1 TV Channels

Manchester United is also worried about key defender Rio Ferdinand who has been sidelined since he picked up a groin injury during season opening Community Shield game. There is a little possibility the defender could return for the Manchester derby on Sunday.

The Canadian Press reported:

"We'll have to wait and see," Ferguson said. "He felt his groin in training (after the victory at Tottenham), and we felt it wasn't worth the risk. He couldn't make the bench. We just have to give him every chance for Sunday."

Both the arch rivals are going into the game full of confidence. Manchester City defeated Arsenal 4-2 last Saturday, and there is no reason City will lack confidence while facing United thanks to their flying start to the season. Alongside Chelsea, City is the only other club who are still undefeated so far this season. From four games, the Eastlanders picked up 12 points. There is no doubt, Manchester City’s performance has shown some reflection of their big spending.

Manchester United is currently in the second place with 12 points from 5 games. Manchester United will also be full of spirit when facing the city rivals. What is more important is that they will go into the game on the back of three excellent back to back victories of which came last week when they defeated Arsenal 2-1. Then the Red Devils showed a spirited performance at Tottenham Hotspur last Saturday where they pulled off a come-from-back 3-1 victory. In the midweek, Ferguson boys faced a hostile condition at Tukish champion Besiktas.

Manchester United is missing a number of other players too. Regular goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar and Owen Hargreaves will remain sidelined, while Paul Scholes is under suspension as he received marching order during Tottenham game. However, I do not think that they would have to worry a lot about the injury problems, except defender Ferdinand. However, Jonny Evans is filling in very well for Ferdinand. The youngster is pretty much confident ahead of the City games as he firmly believes in his club’s strength.

Times Online reported:

“City have had a great start, but our performance at Spurs last weekend was outstanding,” Evans said. “The lads did brilliantly to come back from losing an early goal and also cope with being down to ten men when [Paul] Scholes got sent off. I watched from the bench and it’s one of the best performances I’ve seen from us in a long time.

“We all know about the big rivalry between United and City and it’s always nice to get the upper hand on them. They’ve put themselves up there now. It’s a long season, but fair play to them because they’ve got off to a good start.”

Besides Evans, Ferguson has a number of quality options to fill up the void created by the absence of other players. In the goal, United has someone like Foster who is gradually showing his skill and talent. If Ferdinand plays, then Evans would have to sit in the substitutes’ bench. In the midfield, they have experienced players like Ryan Giggs, young Anderson, holding midfielder Fletcher and Brazilian Anderson. I do not think they have a lot to worry about the absence of talismanic Cristiano Ronaldo who scored against City in the last Manchester Derby. In the attacking line up, Manchester United has Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen. Overall, Ferguson has little to worry about ahead of the home fixture with City.

Manchester City, on the other hand, has a number of problems. I already mentioned that they are missing all of their front line strikers, and thus, leaving manager Mark Hughes with only two options Craig Bellamy and Benjani Mwaruwari who are not reliable in the up front. Well, I am not raising any question regarding their talent, but they lack consistency and I do not think that they would be very much effective in front of United defense.

Naturally, Manchester City will rely on midfield that boasts of Gareth Barry, Wright-Phillips as well as Ireland and Petrov. City’s defense is also very strong in the presence of Kolo Toure, Micah Richards, Wayne Bridge and Joleon Lescott. So, the only department City has to deal with some problems is attack.

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Overall, I think, Manchester United will have an edge, given their home advantage. Moreover, Ferdinand’s presence would boost up the confidence level of the home side. City can relish their 2-1 victory over Old Trafford during 2007-08 season. However, it is also true that City lost both of their league games to United last season. I think, the match will be highly competitive and football fans will enjoy the match.