League Cup Semi-Finals (1st Leg)

Manchester City v Manchester United


Tuesday, January 19

Manchester City v Manchester United
Team news: Manchester City - Ireland (IN), Santa Cruz (OUT), Adebayor (OUT) -- Manchester United - Berbatov (doubtful), Fletcher (IN), Ferdinand (OUT), Giggs (OUT)

Verdict: The Manchester derby will take place again for the first time since that epic 4-3 battle at Old Trafford some 4 months ago. On that occasion, Manchester United were triumphant under controversial circumstances so the blue half will definitely be after a bit of revenge here. Both sides have suffered some dissapointments this month, with City losing 2-0 on the weekend at Everton while United were knocked out of the FA Cup by Leeds United (0-1) and held at Birmingham City (1-1).

Manchester City remain unbeaten at home in all competitions whereas Manchester United have lost some key battles away from Old Trafford against main rivals Liverpool and Chelsea in addition to dropping points at Fulham (3-0) and Birmingham City. Sir Alex Ferguson is expected to give some of the youngsters that were beaten by Leeds United an opportunity to redeem themselves - namely Fabio, Rafael, Gibson, Obertan and Wellbeck (in addition to last week's scorer Diouf). Man City manager, Roberto Mancini, has a more experienced side at his disposal despite a long list of absentees. Shaun Wright-Phillips and Martin Petrov on played a bit part against Everton so it is expected that they will feature, as is Benjani up front with Tevez and Bellamy.

Manchester United are in poor form at the moment. The 3-0 score line against Burnley weas definitely flattering on the Red Devils and their results in previous weeks have not been much better. Ferguson's mish mash sides for domestic cups have failed to impress so far. They were fortunate to beat Tottenham 2-0 in the League Cup Q/F in December and ofcoarse lost out comprehensively to Leeds at Old Trafford. Manchester City have been fantastic at home and I expect them to take an advantage into the second leg in a week's time.

Pick: Manchester City DNB @2.08 (betsson, 6 units)
Manchester City 2 - 1 Manchester United