Manchester United have pressed aggressively in recent matches and Pep Guardiola’s Premier League leaders could find the seams in their defence coming apart in Sunday’s Old Trafford derbyIt may go right, it may go wrong. But this is the one – this is the one we’ve waited for. And not before time either. A year and a half into the most dizzily trailed clash of managerial personalities since the brown-suited white heat of Don Revie versus Brian Clough, Sunday’s Manchester derby may finally dish up a contest to justify the extended trails.When Pep Guardiola arrived in Manchester two summers ago the level of expectation was understandable. In a league already obsessed with the José Mourinho toxic personality cult and hooked...
In Sunday’s Manchester derby the United manager must call on all his pragmatism to halt Pep Guardiola’s side and keep the title race aliveThis, it feels, is it. It may be only the second weekend of December but if Manchester United lose at home to Manchester City on Sunday the gap at the top of the table will be 11 points and the title race – and José Mourinho’s record of always winning the league in his second season at a club – will be as good as over. Related: José Mourinho is growing restless in Pep Guardiola’s shade | Daniel Taylor Related: José Mourinho revels in the brutal beauty of sticking to his principles | Barney Ronay Continue reading...
Manchester City chasing record number of records, Hazard challenged to get better still, Puel proves his worth again and Pochettino unfazed by wobble• Sign up now and get our weekly email, The Recap, every Friday Related: Pep Guardiola happy as Man City repeat ‘Fergie time’ trick against West Ham Related: The Dozen: the weekend’s best Premier League photos Continue reading...
The French midfielder sat out the dying moments of the thrilling 3-1 victory at Arsenal but will be sorely missed for the Manchester derby and beyondA French midfielder with massive presence sent off in an intense match between Manchester United and Arsenal reflected on his emotions in the dressing room, mind whirring while the latter stages of the game was played without him. “It’s tough, especially in a big moment like that,” he said. “You feel like you let the team down. There are so many emotions going through your mind, and everything is negative – I was so mad about the red card.” As it happens, those words belong to Patrick Vieira, who experienced the frustration of being dismissed –...
Despite numerous chances at the Emirates Stadium, Arsène Wenger’s side came off second best once again and showed they remain unstable at the backFor 79 minutes on Saturday, Arsenal were superb. In that spell, they had 32 shots to Manchester United’s five. They pummelled a team noted for their organisation, creating chance after chance. As Arsène Wenger underlined afterwards, they hammered them on the xG. They forced David de Gea into a Premier League record 14 saves. The problem was that by the time they began that spell, they were 2-0 down.There is an entire chapter in Alex Ferguson’s last but one book devoted to Wenger and how predictable he found Arsenal, how easy they were to counter-attack. Wenger claimed last week...