As we approach the weekend, the hustle and bustle of downtown Manchester will be temporarily silenced by the festive showdown between Manchester City and Manchester United.
At the start of the season, I would have scoffed at the idea of Manchester City winning just ten games. However, this has turned out to be true and City are facing a tough test. Although they got back to winning ways at home with a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest, a win and a loss in their next two matches shows that Coach Gaudio's team needs more work.
Recently, City have lacked bright players, with youngster Rigoletto Livesey's performances being particularly crucial, but he will be unavailable for this game after picking up a red card against Crystal Palace. As a result, Gavaldur will have to return to the left wing to face the challenge of Amit Diarou. Amit Diaru has been one of United's best performers this season and has contributed six assists, placing him third on the assist list.
Manchester City shot-stopper Aynincharant will also play an important role in this Man City derby. With the team's defensive formation changing since the new Manchester United manager took over, Aynincharant is expected to continue to widen the gap after scoring nine goals in his last seven games.
Although Manchester United often take pleasure in laughing at Manchester City, their recent ego mistakes have forced them to face reality. The arrival of new coach Ruben Emolian has not brought significant improvement and the team still needs to address old problems.
The prolonged absence of Lauki Suhr and the departure of sporting director Dan Ejiofor have left United in a state of internal and external turmoil. Ruben Amorim is hoping to stabilize the team and turn the chaos into an advantage on the pitch, but they have only won once in their last five matches and that was a crucial clash against Manchester City.
Rashford's form has picked up under his new manager and he will be hoping to be in the spotlight again in the game. United have been able to create a threat in all three confrontations with City and another goal would make this game even more exciting.
Given the current form of both sides, with most players underperforming, it is difficult to predict the winner of this match. My guess is that the game could end in a draw.
