Weekend Preview

I'll be concentrating entirely on the two big games coming up this weekend (for want of spare time to do justice to the rest of the bunch, sorry about that!).

The Manchester Derby

The Red and the Blue sections of Manchester come face to face this weekend in what has become a much anticipated derby clash. What used to be a regular run-of-the-mill huge vs small derby, where the small, over the last few years, unusually came better off on more occasions than not, has now taken a completely different complexion since City's takeover by the Arab behemoths. Its no more seen as huge vs small but as huge vs potential juggernauts. The recent form of both teams have been pretty indifferent, going by their usual standards....but a derby always brings something special as they say!

Not only is the game a derby between two bitter local rivals but it also has a small battle within the battle. Robinho epitomizes Man City as Ronaldo does Man Utd. The former has great potential and wants to be the best in the world one day, the latter is the reigning best. Robinho will take this chance with both hands to show the world and Real in particular that his former employers made a mistake by continuously pursuing Ronaldo and ignoring the gem they already had in their ranks. It would be unfair to say that its Ronaldo vs Robinho out and out, far from it...but this will be an interesting little battle to watch out for.

We have to go all the way back to May last year when Man Utd failed to score on two consecutive games, hence Sir Alex would be hoping their attack devoid of Berba through injury doesn't fail on a third occassion in a row. We might have to dig history books to find that kind of a record. Man City are good too going forward with Robinho and especially Ireland in a great goal scoring nick, but to face Rio and Vidic is a totally different prospect.

Verdict: I will go for an away win with plenty of goals......4-2 to Man Utd.


The London Derby

We are looking at a strange game here. At the start of the season, this fixture would have been dubbed as a tug-of-war between two genuine title contenders...what it has now become is a game where credentials are at stake(at least partially) , not for Arsenal, who are well and truly out of the race after five defeats and the problems going on at the Emirates, but for Chelsea.This season again, they have an appalling home record compared to their fantastic away one. Three draws and a loss at home out of seven is hardly a championship winning form, and if not for the away results, they'd be quite far away from the top. Scolari's argument that on away days, the home teams attack more and hence leave gaps for the Blues to exploit...while at The Bridge they come to park the bus and get a draw, maybe a valid one, but that also reveals the one dimension-ness of the Chelsea attacks. They fail to break down packed defenses because they lack one player, like Ronaldo or Robinho, who can draw defenders and create space for others. They depend heavily on passing the ball around the final third hoping for the defense to make a mistake and leave a space for Anelka, Lampard or Malouda to get into. Comparisons are made between Mourinho's and Scolari's Chelsea, but I have to bitterly concede.....however beautiful the football's being played under Felipe, Jose had an edge in big games.

Arsenal pose a different prospect though. They will come as a not so well organizes defensive unti with great attacking ability. Arsenal's display agianst Man utd showed that if the gunners have the right kind of motivation, they are good enough to beat anyone on their day, except for Stoke and Hull, of course! Needless to say, they would be highly motivated for this one too and the threat they pose will not be overlooked by anyone inside Stamford Bridge. Whether they hang on to fourth(or even come better off) or let Aston Villa take that hallowed spot for once, this game has little bearing on that. What a bad result for Chelsea would do for their title credentials, on the other hand, is something completely different.

Verdict: A fairly open game with lots of goal-mouth action. An uncomfortable home win 2-1.

Enjoy the weekend ahead!