Sunday’s lunch time kick off will feature the most popular team on earth clash against the club with the wealthiest owner. It’s Dr. Sulaiman Al-Fahim’s Manchester City against the EPL defending champions Manchester United at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Though the Red Champions are arguably favourites on paper to win the encounter, history also recalls that the Sky Blues clinched a double victory against the Devils last season under their former manager Sven Goren Eriksson. Man City also beat their rivals 3-1 in a friendly almost three years ago.

A special game for Evra

One player who knows all about City’s capacity is Manchester United’s French left-back Patrice Evra who made his Man United debut against the Sky Blues.

“I played my first match against Manchester City and that helped me, as I knew how hard I had to work,” Evra said to the media.

The defender has indeed developed his talent, since joining the English club from Monaco in 2006, and cemented his place in the team’s starting XI, replacing Gabriel Heinze who is now a Galactico.

Rooney’s powerful mentality ahead of the game

While supporters expect Evra to keep up his good form on Sunday against the team which he faced in his Premier League debut, Wayne Rooney thinks about leaving up to the fans’ expectations.

“Sunday is a massive game,” the striker said.

“We owe the fans a derby win, even though we did win two trophies last season. Losing both games last season was extremely disappointing.

“It is a massive game, especially after what has happened at City with the takeover. It will be nice to show them who the Kings of Manchester are.”

Indeed, the duel between the clubs of Manchester will be fiercer than ever, as it will explain whether money is stronger than historical achievements in football or not.

The Red Champions are placed third in the league table and any slip-up against 11th placed Man City will almost mean the end of the road for them, something which Wayne Rooney is well aware of.

“It is a must-win game for us,” he declared.

“We cannot afford not to win it, especially if Liverpool and Chelsea win.

“We have had some difficult away matches but we should still have done better.

“But we are still not too far away from Liverpool and Chelsea and that is the main thing for us.

“We normally finish the season strongly so hopefully we can do that again.”

Rooney – still one goal short of a 100 – is already predicting a flurry of goals against Manchester City.
The 23 year old England forward has been preparing really hard to go and pour back all the dynamite in the blue skies at the City of Manchester Stadium.

The balance between the two clubs

Manchester United have failed to hit the back of the net in over 180 minutes, and last time’s goalless draw at Villa Park prevented them of taking full advantage on the current league leaders who also lost points on that same day.
As for Manchester City, their 3-0 win at home to Arsenal have uplifted their spirits and confidence and their Brazilian duo – Elano and Robinho – cannot wait to trash the EPL titleholders.
Both were left out from the squad that impressively beat Shalke 04 2-0 in Thursday’s UEFA Cup match in Germany due to injury problems. However, they should be fit to face Manchester United’s Portuguese Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo for another battle of the Giants. Zabaleta also returns to action.

Concerning Manchester United’s list of available players for the local derby clash, things have eased up a bit for Fergie with the possible return of Berbatov.

Speaking to the press, the Scottish boss said: “Dimitar started training today but hamstring injuries are never easy to deal with.

“We have to be careful because he has never had one before.

“We will have to gauge whether it is wise to use him from the start on Sunday or better to have him on the bench.

“It really depends how he comes through the next couple of days.”

Either way, Man United have many options, talking about strikers, with Danny Welbeck, Manucho and Tevez all available.

It will be no surprise if the score is astonishing. However, the game could also be tight depending on the formation that the coaches will want to play. What is certain is that this encounter will be remembered as one of the greatest Mancunian derby ever.

Written by: Angela Asante