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Tevez’s Double Whammy This Weekend?

Published by Ian John on April 16, 2010

It isn’t often in recent times that Manchester City have gone into the Manchester derby game with a feeling of an upper hand, but that seems to be the case for Saturday’s clash between the two Mancunian giants.

City, in a rich vein of form at present, will host United in a game that both sides simply have to win. United will be without Wayne Rooney once again and after their elimination to Bayern Munich, defeat to Chelsea and disappointing 0-0 draw with Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park last week, don’t go into this clash in the best of form. City on the other hand come fresh from a 5-1 demolition of Birmingham City, hot on the back of a 6-1 thumping of Burnley and will have Carlos Tevez in their side for the game he has probably most been relishing since the start of the season.

It represents a double whammy opportunity for Tevez. Victory for City would move them clear in the race for fourth with only Tottenham now likely to catch them as Aston Villa and Liverpool now look too far back to make a realistic challenge. It would also mean that City would almost certainly end any fading title hopes harboured by their city rivals and ensure that United end the season with only the Carling Cup to show for their efforts this year. Tevez will not need any further motivation to get one over his former club in what will be the biggest and most evenly contested Manchester derby for many years.

Manchester United must also win the game. Firstly to keep alive their title dreams and secondly, beating City in the derby game would give Tottenham the chance to overtake City in the race for fourth, a fact which will give Manchester United as much joy as winning the game itself. However United are going to have to play markedly better than they have been in recent times and without Wayne Rooney, the team has looked somewhat toothless in recent weeks.

It promises to be a huge clash and perhaps, the defining weekend in the title race and the race for fourth place as down in London, Tottenham, fresh from their North London derby win over Arsenal, will host Chelsea at White Hart Lane.

Like the derby in Manchester, this London derby pits a team chasing fourth against potential champions and will be equally hard fought. However Chelsea have no great injury worries and are in much better form at present than United, plus they have an excellent record at White Hart Lane. Tottenham will no doubt be fatigued from the midweek victory over Arsenal but know that a victory over Chelsea is a must if they are to keep pushing hard for that fourth spot.

It is an intriguing weekend in prospect and one that could either end the title race and end the race for fourth, or throw both races wide open once again.

If United can defeat City and Chelsea lose at Tottenham, then the title race and the race for fourth are wide open once again, especially when you consider one of Chelsea’s remaining games is the game with Liverpool at Anfield. That would leave United one point behind with three games to play and Chelsea still to face Rafa Benitez men. It would also see Tottenham leapfrog Manchester City into fourth spot by two points, each with four games of the season left to play.

On the other hand, if City defeat United and Chelsea manage to get the win at White Hart Lane, that would put Chelsea seven points ahead of United and requiring just one win from their final three league games to be confirmed League Champions. It would also put Manchester City four points ahead of Tottenham in the race for fourth, with just four games to go. A gap that would be difficult to overhaul in just four games.

Sadly for Spurs and United fans, I can see the latter scenario as being more likely than the former. Spurs exertions in midweek will have taken their toll, Chelsea have had a days extra rest and a much less arduous game against Bolton. They are also in good form and have an excellent record at White Hart Lane. It will be very, very close but I think Chelsea will snatch the points. At Eastlands, with so much on the line and despite their vast experience, I think United won’t have enough to hold City. They only just scraped by them in the Carling Cup semi final and that was down to the brilliance of the one man who won’t be playing. City on the other hand have the added motivation of knowing that beating United ends their title hopes and I think that City may actually win this one quite comfortably.

So it looks like being a defining weekend one way or the other. It will either confirm that we know who will win the title and finish fourth, or confirm that both races are going to go down to the wire.

Image Courtesy of ***peaman *** on Flickr.com

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