Zimpapers Logo

LONDON.
Patrick Vieira is expecting Manchester United to be even more fired up than usual for their derby match against his Manchester City side at Old Trafford today.
English Premier League soccer leaders United’s shock loss to relegation-threatened Wolves ended their unbeaten run and dreams of an “invincible” season.
It also allowed second-placed Arsenal, who squandered a 4-0 lead in a 4-4 draw at Newcastle, to close to within four points with City, who are third, five points off top spot.
“We must expect a backlash and a battle,” Vieira told Abu Dhabi-based paper The National.
“Big clubs like United always talk about the importance of never losing two times in a row,” the veteran France midfielder added. “They will want to bounce back to winning ways immediately.”
His words were echoed by City assistant manager David Platt, who said: “We can’t go to Old Trafford, win the match, and then hope that a team which has never capitulated under pressure in 10 or 12 years of the Premier League will do so.
“We should be hoping to do something we can control, which is win every football match we play between now and the end of the season.
“That’s a tall order but you take each game as it comes, and that starts at Old Trafford. If we can take the three points we will take them.
“But we aren’t looking over the road and thinking that dressing room, with the experience it has got, and the winners it has got, will capitulate just because it loses a game,” Platt told the Manchester Evening News.
Much will depend on former United striker Carlos Tevez, who has scored 18 league goals so far this season, one short of the tally of new Old Trafford favourite Dimitar Berbatov.
Sir Alex Ferguson believes Manchester United’s failure to set a new unbeaten record run will refocus their minds on winning the Premier League title.
United aim to bounce back from a shock 2-1 defeat at Wolves when they face arch rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford today in a match Ferguson describes as being “decisive” in the title race.
The loss at Wolves ended their bid to overhaul a 30-game unbeaten club record in the league, but United boss Ferguson is looking on the bright side as there is no longer any pressure on his players to stay undefeated.
Ferguson, whose side are four points clear of second placed Arsenal and five ahead of City, believes the setback could actually work in his team’s favour for the remainder of the season.
“It’s not pressure, but it’s always hanging over you. But now the focus has changed from that to winning the league again,” Ferguson said yesterday.
“That’s the name of the game, and I’ve said that all along. This unbeaten run should not interfere with the fact that our focus is on winning the league.
“In normal circumstances, and it’s proved to be the case again, you do lose games.
“In the run-in to the end of the season teams will drop points. It’s a fact, whoever gets the most consistent form will win the league.
“It’s a derby game and with the changing nature it could be decisive for both teams, so that makes it an interesting game for us.
“You never get easy games in derbies but we’re going in with good confidence.
“Hopefully our home form stacks up because I’ve been very pleased with that.”
United have suffered a blow in the build up to the visit of their cross-city rivals with England defender Rio Ferdinand failing to recover from a calf strain.
With Jonny Evans also sidelined, rookie centre-back Chris Smalling will partner Nemanja Vidic at the heart of United’s defence.
Although Smalling has little experience of such a big match, Ferguson has full faith in the young English defender.
“Smalling will play and I’m sure he’ll do well,” Ferguson said. “He has been excellent.
“He got a bit of tightness in his back last week so that’s why I used Jonny Evans, but we’ve been very pleased with Chris.
“He’s played a few games now and he’s been outstanding. He may lack a bit of big-game experience but, in terms of the experience he has got, he’s used it well.”
A victory for United would inflict a potentially fatal blow to City’s title hopes in one of the most eagerly awaited derbies for decades.
Ferguson added: “We’ve had the internationals this week but the focus on the game will start up now. Maybe it’s not a bad thing.
“It doesn’t really matter about the hype as far as the clubs are concerned, we’ve got to perform on the pitch.
“I’ve got a good idea what their team might be but I’m not privy to everything. They will have a good idea about our team because there are no hidden secrets.”
Meanwhile, City boss Roberto Mancini believes his side are closing the gap on their bitter rivals, even though they have yet to match United’s winning mentality.
“Our team is a good team, we have improved a lot in six months,” Mancini said.
“Maybe United has a winning mentality because they have won for a long time.
“When you have a team who wins trophies for 20 years, your mentality is very strong.
“This is the difference but when we start to win trophies, we can change.
“I think for us it is very important to win something this season — with the Europa League, FA Cup, Premier League.
“In the city, there are two teams, there is one team that wins everything, there is another team that for a long time doesn’t win but this can change.”
Relegation-haunted Wolves meanwhile, will look to add Arsenal to a list of scalps that already includes Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and United this season.
The Gunners are bound to be still smarting from their remarkable match at Newcastle and Wolves defender Ronald Zubar said: “I know a bit about Arsenal with there being some French players there.
“They were very disappointed about the draw with Newcastle and having been 4-0 up it felt like a loss.
“They will want to put that right by beating us and it’s their home game with the chance to show something positive to their fans.
“But we’ve just beaten Manchester United and can go to the Emirates and try to get another positive result.
“Last year we played very well at Arsenal but conceded in the last minute.
“Again we can learn from that but it is never easy against Arsenal because they can score at any moment.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger heads into his side’s meeting with Wolves at the Emirates today with a sense of relief.
For a start, every one of his 11 international representatives returned from their respective midweek friendly matches unscathed.
Fixtures (5pm unless stated)
Today: Arsenal v Wolves, Birmingham v Stoke, Blackburn v Newcastle, Blackpool v Aston Villa, Liverpool v Wigan, Manchester United v Manchester City (2:45pm), Sunderland v Tottenham (7:30pm), West Brom v West Ham.
Tomorrow: Bolton v Everton (6pm).
Monday: Fulham v Chelsea (10pm).
English Premier League table
P    W    D    L    F    A    Pts
Man Utd    25    15    9    1    55    24    54
Arsenal    25    15    5    5    54    27    50
Man City    26    14    7    5    42    22    49
Chelsea    25    13    5    7    46    22    44
Tottenham    25    12    8    5    35    27    44
Liverpool    26    11    5    10    34    31    38
Sunderland    26    9    10    7    32    31    37
Bolton    26    8    9    9    36    37    33
Stoke    25    10    3    12    31    32    33
Newcastle    25    8    7    10    40    38    31
Blackburn    26    9    4    13    34    42    31
Fulham    26    6    12    8    28    28    30
Everton    25    6    12    7    33    34    30
Aston Villa    26    7    8    11    30    45    29
Blackpool    25    8    4    13    38    49    28
Birmingham    24    5    12    7    24    33    27
West Brom    25    7    5    13    31    48    26
Wigan    26    5    11    10    26    44    26
Wolverhampton    25    7    3    15    26    43    24
West Ham    26    5    9    12    27    45    24. — AFP.