MANCHESTER CITY VS MANCHESTER UNITED 2010 PREMIER LEAGUE TIPS

This will be the fourth Manchester derby of the season and one thing is for certain, City are deadly serious about their quest to topple United as the city’s main club. In the first meeting of the season, back in September at Old Trafford, City’s newly assembled squad were fresh and naive and that led to a heartbreaking 4-3 win for the champions. 

Four months henceforth and a Carling Cup tie at Eastlands; City – now under the stewardship of Roberto Mancini – showed signs of maturing into serious Premier League big boys by beating United 2-1. A point exemplified by the fact that they are in a commanding position and now odds on – 8/15 with William Hill – to finish the season in fourth place.
So, what of United? Well there season has been turned completely on its head in the space of just over a fortnight. Injury to Wayne Rooney at the Allianz Arena was the catalyst to being knocked out of the Champions League and surrendering a commanding position at the top of the Premier League table. Now, emotions are rather sombre in the red half of Manchester and this could be just the right time to be playing Sir Alex Ferguson’s men.
Rooney looks set to make his second return from that injury sustained in Munich and would be a big boost for United if he is indeed at full fitness. Bet365 go 4/1 on him opening the scoring on his return. However, for once Rooney may not be the centre of attention; instead it is likely to be the man who Ferguson deemed not worthy of his price tag last summer, Carlos Tevez. Ironically, Tevez could have suitably filled the Rooney shaped void in the United team of recent weeks, but it wasn’t to be and he certainly bleeds sky blue now. Whether he settled the score by bagging a brace in that Carling Cup tie is a matter of conjecture, but you can be sure that he will be just as up for this one and he is 5/1 to get the opening goal of the game.
Such are the many subplots of this fixture that the match odds betting is almost a secondary tale. For the record United are 2.56 (8/5) on Betfair with City at 3.0 (2/1) but the draw at odds of 3.7 (11/4) – a result which would end United’s slender hopes of retaining the Premier League title for a fourth year – looks to be the best bet.
This promises to be an intriguing and entertaining affair, but also one that could ultimately fast track the Premier League trophy to Stamford Bridge.