United and City Lock Horns for Manchester Derby

Manchester United get ready to welcome their city and title rivals for one of the most exciting derbies in world football.

United will be looking for a fast and immediate response after losing their unbeaten record for this season away at Wolves. The performance was way below what Sir Alex Ferguson has come to expect from his team at this level and an emphatic response will be demanded by coaches and fans.

There are one or two slight injury worries ahead of the game as Rio Ferdinand is struggling to get fit in time after picking up a slight knock to a previous injury. Ferdinand has played in countless derbies throughout his career and his missing experience could lead a gaping hole in the United defence.

Park Ji-Sung has been out of the team due to the good form of others but he could now come back into the side as Ferguson looks for a more disciplined player down one side of the pitch. Ryan Giggs is due a rest as he replaced Park for a long spell over the winter while the South Korean was playing in the Asian Cup.

Ferguson will also have to toy over the question of who plays in central midfield. The temptation will be to play Paul Scholes as he is one of the more creative players at the club. However, Ferguson could go with Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher as his midfield pairing because the duo are a lot fitter than Scholes is in terms of youth and age, they will also be able to protect the back four.

In attack there will be no headaches over which combination to go for as Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov have both scored goals in the recent past. Their understanding as a strike partnership is getting better with every game and it’s very important for United in this game that they play off of each other successfully.

Javier Hernandez will deputise for either if Ferguson decides to go for a little more pace in the attack of the team. Hernandez is the quickest player United possess and he has shown that he can score goals regularly over a long season even if he’s on the bench most of the time.

There are no brand new additions to the long-term injury list. Antonio Valencia is back doing some physical work but is still a little way off a first team place and a full recovery. Owen Hargreaves faces being released at the end of the season if he cannot overcome persistent knee and hamstring problems that have limited him to only two appearances for the last two years.