PBP: EPL - Manchester United FC vs Manchester City FC - Dec 10, 2017 [R]

We've been playing just well enough to give me false confidence and hope ahead of this game.

 

Matt Le Tissier on the Manchester derby.

www.skysports.com/football/news/11667/11158718/jose-mourinho-will-sit-and-defend-in-manchester-derby-says-matt-le-tissier

 

We need a win for our title hopes.

 

Pogba has faith his teammates can do the job without him vs City.

www.bleacherreport.com/articles/2747880-paul-pogba-had-complete-trust-in-manchester-united-team-mates-to-win-derby

He has to be so gutted though to miss such a game. The silver lining in this is that he will be very hungry and determined upon his return from suspension (which will be timely for the holiday games). Also, having missed so many games earlier in the season, at least, we shouldn't have to worry too much about him staying relatively fresh.

 

Without Pogba, a draw would be an excellent result.

 

Before the Arsenal game, I was of the belief that 4pts out of those 2 games would probably what could be expected and with Pogba missing, it still holds definitely true.
That being said, with City not looking as deadly as they had been and still believing Jose will come up with a sound plan, I'll give us a 25-30% chance of pulling out a win.

 

True, but what about winning the league? the game is at home, we are undefeated in 40 home games, conceded no more than once in those games.

I would go out the same lineup as Arsenal's same formation replace Pogba with Herrera.

I am tempted of putting Mkhi instead of Lingard but the defensive side and pressure that Lingard has makes a big difference especially that Citeh love to pass the ball right after the center circle on our side.

 

I'd love for us to win but I just don't see it happening without the guy that makes our offense click and is our one true outfield difference maker. Unfortunately, City have a handful of difference makers.

 

I like how Manchester City is misspelled in the thread title. No respect. Love it.

 

Having taken a couple of weeks off, he is fresh and gotten rid of the inconsistencies hopefully. His execution offensively is better than Lingard. Yes Lingard had a couple of good games by pressing high and contributing to the scoreline but without Pogba he won't be near the ball or have that impact. It is more likely for us to score on a counter than on a mistake, so even with his pressing I doubt it will make much of a difference.

Without Pogba you need someone to drive the team forward with the ball and Mkhi would be the only one to do it. Yes you would lose the pressing of Lingard but with Pogba out, you know Herrera will be doing mostly defensive work. That covers Mkhi's ass and allows him to use the space on the counter to create.

 

Massive fixture for both clubs. There being no new news on Bailly and Jones -- at least none that I'm aware of -- no doubt we'll go with Lindelof, Smalling and Rojo at the back. How adventurous Valencia and Young will be remains to be seen. Lingard starting, surely.

Good to see GNev2 SAVAGELY trolling City:

 

If Bailly and Jones are fit should we go to a back 2 instead of a back 3? Or does Rojo slide in with them?

 

So far as the injured/absentees from yesterday, Jose has said that Matic will surely play, Bailly and Carrick will not and that Fellaini and Jones have a chance.
If Jones is good to go, I could see him sliding back in for Rojo, who Jose has said is very tired (in his own words) having played so much after returning from a major injury.
So the question is whether he sticks with the 3 CB formation that has worked pretty well in recent games or plays a traditional back 4 but with 3 CMs (Matic, Herrera and Fellaini).

 

Bailly hasn't played for weeks so Rojo may just edge him for me, even with his mistakes.

 

Seems to me Jose has got to ride the backs who've done well recently, unless Jones shows some outrageous stuff in training.

 

We find ourselves in a pretty interesting situation here. Without Pogba a draw would certainly be a good result...in a vacuum. However in the realities of our current situation a draw does very little for us. Only a win really gets us back in a title race, and the single point doesn't move the needle very much on UCL qualification for next year at this point. I think there's a case to be made for going for it here just because we have more to gain than to lose in terms of the title race, and I think Mou actually would have been aggressive with Pogba.

Will he still be without him? I honestly don't know. Not sure we really have the personnel for it. As Mou has noted we really can't press the same without Pogba.Ultimately if I had to guess I'd say Jose talks himself into the idea that we can still potentially get back into the title race after a draw if City loses stride at some point. He parks the bus and goes for a draw or nicking a victory if we can. Wouldn't be too surprised to be wrong though. Jose can read the table as well as we can.

 

A draw keeps in the trophy hunt. A defeat almost knocks us completely out.

Let's do the math: Say we draw with City, we're still down 8 points with 22 matches left to play. Taking nothing away from the fact that City have been brilliant in their first (soon to be) 16 games, they'd still only be up 8 points on us with a lot of football left to play. Clearly, if they maintain their form and do undefeated the rest of the way we're not going to catch them even if we beat them on Sunday.

But 8 points is a gap that absolutely can be closed over a 22 game stretch. City would need to lose at least one additional game and suffer a few draws while we go virtually unbeaten, but that's actually not impossible. Our chances of beating Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal at OT are pretty good and, with a bit of luck on the fitness (Pogba) and referee (Pogba) fronts we really can go on a long unbeaten streak.

But if you're looking for the safest bet for the prem winner, we should all be betting on City right now. But you never know -- Hillary looked like a pretty safe bet to beat Trump.

 

Before we lost Pogba, I was feeling pretty confident during the Arsenal game, given how our displays were clearly on the ascendency and City, despite winning, appeared to plateau and just not be as dominant.
The loss of Pogs is huge and can not be overstated enough. I'll take the point as well, but part of me is still hoping Jose can devise a plan that will see us victorious Sunday.
The most likely bet, I'm guessing would have us more passive and defensive than we'd like to be at home, but I do believe that we have the players who can hurt their defense, given the opportunity. And if it has to be ugly, then so be it: the repercussions of a United win in the title race, make it absolutely worth it.
I've maintained I would like City's lead to be down to 6pts minimum by the turn of the year and unless we beat them, not sure how it can happen, as they have a pretty soft schedule.
But I'll put faith in Jose to pull a rabbit out his hat and have something in store for Pep and City. Fingers crossed.

 

City are very comfortable in attack. We need to play them like we played Chelsea last year. We need to attack them and have Herrera pocket KDB. How do you stop a bully? Punch him in the ********in face.

 

Actually, Jeff was never a big Miki supporter.

 

Let's see how Lingard does without Pogba.

Miki needs to move, maybe a loan deal. This bullshit with the coach won't stop.

 

[emoji8]

 

How does Mourinho stop Pep and City?

www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/dec/07/manchester-city-manchester-united-derby-jose-mourinho-pep-guardiola