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Who is your pick in the Manchester Derby?

ManchesterDerby (Getty)

The English Premier League title will go a long way toward being decided today when Manchester United and Manchester City square off at the Etihad Stadium today (3pm, ESPN). A United victory would essentially seal the title, while a City triumph would leave the teams tied heading into the final weeks of the season.

United's recent stumble has allowed City to climb back into the race and now the Blues enter the Manchester Derby as slight favorites after a strong recent run led by the return of Carlos Tevez.

How do you see today's match going? Think United can get a point or three at the Etihad, or do you see City prevailing and moving into first place in the Premier League?

Cast your vote after the jump:

Who do I see winning? As much as United has struggled in recent weeks, look for the Red Devils to pull it together and escape the Etihad with a point, which would leave United with a three-point lead on City. Look for Wayne Rooney to deliver the decisive equalizer.

Now, if I had to pick a winner, I would say City is the team more likely to pull three points from today's match just based on recent form and home-field advantage. You can just picture Tevez delivering the dagger against his old club.

How did you vote? Who do you see being the star of the game today? Where will you be watching today's Manchester Derby?

Share your thoughts below.

 

Comments

  1. Agreed-that argument, especially when applied to Barca is incredibly circular. Not just the good scouting/money argument you mentioned, but also the fact that if you are already good parents are more likely to entrust their children’s footballing future in a successful club.

    This standard isn’t universal either. Manchester City, United, etc. get to keep their academy products but almost every other teams is forced to sell or lose their players for nothing. So United and Barca aren’t nearly as innocent as often made out to be.

    I think I’ve figured out how to make a salary cap work in Europe that doesn’t make Man U have the same wages as Molde but doesn’t kill the Champions League either.

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  2. Heh. Well, one has to hope, right? I agree that the last few weeks have been about United blowing it, not City rising to the task. That is for this week and next. Still, from interviews and where their play is heading, it seems like Tevez has (temporarily) got his head on straight again, Silva seems to be finding his form again, Yaya will be motivated, which is not always the case, and Balotelli, should he see time as a sub, finally realizes how he needs to behave. This team, if playing their best, is head and shoulders above United.

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  3. Good homegrown players are the result of having the money to build a top-notch academy and a top-notch scouting network. This creates an even wider gulf between the rich and the poor. Team like Chelsea and City spent big short-term to play catch-up. The formula is: To stock your team with top-quality players when you aren’t playing Champions League yet and have a lesser tradition of winning titles, you have to overspend. Then you have to build a top-notch academy and training facilities. Then you start playing CL regularly and don’t need to spend as much to attract top players and eventually your academy produces some of them for you.

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  4. Just because some of the Man City players are clowns doesn’t mean everyone is scum on the team.

    Kompany, Silva, and Joe Hart are respectable enough.

    Let’s not forget that United employs such saints as Jonny Evans and Patrice Evra.

    At least Balotelli provides some good laughs.

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  5. Are you implying that United is successful due to their money the same way like Chelsea and City? Because if so, they are completely different scenarios. United has built their teams with home grown players and big spending too, in certain areas, but nothing remotely heading toward the short term spending of Chelsea and City…

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  6. Damn, majestic? Certainly if they whip United in style then they surely deserve to win the title. However, the only reason they have a chance to win the title is because of United dropping five points, not because of anything City has done, or realized they had to do. Sure they won all three games since Arsenal, but they were certainly expected to win those games, and they were aided in the fact that they have no pressure to win them. Mancini definitely did a good job about that. Pressure’s on now though, bigger than anything they’ve ever had to face…

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  7. Rather see the playing field tilted in favor of the same handful of big teams every year? Isn’t it at least nice to know that there is some way for other teams to join that group, even if it is massive short-term spending? Of course, even that will now be impossible under ‘Fair Play’. Now only teams who already have the moneymaking machine cranking will be able to compete for the title aside from the occasional blip like Blackburn in the mid 90s. But even they bought Shearer for 3.5 million pounds just after promotion to Premier League, a record at the time. The record would now be closer to 15 times that. No small team could afford such a signing under ‘Fair Play’.

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  8. I have a feeling we will see City on better form than we’ve ever seen them today. Majestic. This is a team that’s finally realized what is required of them.

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  9. I’m also neutral. I get that rationale, but all the money that’s been pumped into City making them the champion-caliber team they are is a turn off. And I just can’t root for Balotelli and Tevez.

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  10. Man City’s center of midfield is the worst possible opponent for Man United’s. Outside of playing Phil Jones there they don’t have a hard worker there. Scholes, Giggs, and Carrick will get outworked in any combination of the three.

    I’ve gone back and forth the last few minutes thinking about this, and I suppose I’ll stick with a Man United win, as it would most benefit Newcastle.

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  11. Although City’s form is a bit better of late, this could come down to the difference between the managers, and we all know who that favors – Man U. Should be a good game if no one does anything too stupid, yes I’m referring to you Balotelli (if he gets in).

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  12. It will certainly be interesting to see how City handle this pressure. They played relatively well the past three games, but they basically had zero pressure, and weren’t exactly playing some of the better teams in the league. Now that this game actually means something and if they choke the implications could be huge. The suspense is killing me, I have no idea how this will turn out. All I can say is United better play like they want it, not how they played against Wigan and Everton…

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  13. I’m pretty sure their game back in October was slightly less important than this one. If this game ends up with 7 goals then the coach that loses should quit…

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  14. I see City winning this game, but I’m sticking with United to win the title. City will do something to blow it in the final 2 weeks.

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