Manchester derby will be the most important and interesting weekend matches in the Premier League. Prior to today's match, ESPN FC website Nick Miller presented and reviewed five questions, the answers to which could determine the outcome of these matches.
Will Wayne Rooney have a positive impact on Manchester United's game?
He's back! Well, at least partially. At some stages of the season, it seemed like Rooney had reached the end of the road, and only the hope of the player everyone saw and admired in previous years remained. But he still managed to achieve a decent result - 8 goals in 15 matches is certainly not the worst start to the season. His last goal against Everton was the first accurate shot away from home in 11 months. However, the lack of goals in the opponent's area is more worrying than his performances against the strongest teams.
The last time against Manchester City or Chelsea, the only teams besides United to win the Premier League in the past decade, Rooney excelled in September 2013. However, it was only a ceremonial goal, as Moyes' team lost 1-4 to City. The last time Rooney made an impact against the giants was in December 2012 when he scored two goals in the away match against City and helped his team secure a 3-2 victory.
United's manager Louis Van Gaal has a lot of confidence in his captain. However, it is not clear whether this is because the coach sincerely believes in the veteran's abilities, or simply because he has no other choice upfront. Especially when the Dutchman continues to place Anthony Martial on the left wing.
"I think he is an example for everyone. Not only his teammates, but also players and coaches of other clubs. This is because of his professionalism and human qualities. When I worked as a coach for the Dutch national team, I heard different things about him and I didn't know that. But he demonstrated his attitude towards his work and I am very happy that he scored a goal," - Van Gaal spoke about Rooney after the match against Everton.
That attitude is certainly positive, but we have seen before that the striker can be a very inconsistent player. When things don't go well for him, he becomes vulnerable and often hinders the team, but when he demonstrates his best qualities, he becomes one of the best forwards in the Premier League. United will definitely need the good Rooney and his positive push would certainly not hurt in today's match.
How will Manchester City cope without David Silva and Sergio Aguero?
Since losing their two key attacking players during the international break, Manchester City have played two matches and won both, scoring seven goals. But, without offending Bournemouth or Sevilla, none of these teams compare to the opponents representing the other city team. In theory, the absence of Silva in the field is good news for Kevin De Bruyne, who will have the opportunity to occupy a more central position, where he is more dangerous.
Manuel Pellegrini has several options to choose from. He could place Fernando and Fernandinho in the holding midfield positions and move Yaya Toure further forward, which would certainly help stop opponents' ball control, as required by Van Gaal. Also, this system can be easily rearranged if things don't go as expected, by bringing in Jesus Navas to the field.
Probably much more worrying for the team is whether Wilfried Bony will be able to pose a threat to the opponents' goal, which City needs. The striker from Ivory Coast, since joining the Citizens, has been hindered by injuries and rare opportunities to shine. He has only scored four goals in 21 matches (seven of which were in the starting lineup), and only scored against West Brom, Swansea, and Bournemouth. In fact, it would probably be unfair to ask him to replace Aguero. However, the last time Bony scored against a team that could compete for the title was back in March 2014 against Arsenal, back when he was still playing for his former team. Therefore, it is easy to understand why some experts believe that the striker may not be able to pose a real threat to a team like United.
What will United release into the defensive line?
One of the positive aspects of this season's Van Gaal's team is that he has options in the backline. Certainly, this can bring a negative result if the Dutchman chooses the wrong option. And probably no one will argue that this happened during the match against Arsenal, which the Red Devils lost 0-3. The coach made a mistake by choosing Michael Carrick, whose slower pace was a weakness that the Arsenal team managed to exploit.
On the other hand, he managed to hit on a successful and effective backline combination during the match against Everton when Ander Herrera played slightly ahead, with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin behind him. This trio brought control and promising dynamic to Van Gaal's team. It is logical to expect that he will choose the same system for the match against City, but the Dutchman still seems unsure about Herrera. Against such a talented team as the future opponents have, Van Gaal can't afford to make mistakes in selecting his team's defenders.
Will Memphis Depay have a chance to shine in the Manchester United team?
He arrived this summer from PSV Eindhoven for £25 million, as a showcase signing. Perhaps not the most influential player that United acquired this summer, he was still one of the most talented young players in Europe that many other clubs wanted from all over the continent. But now Memphis really has to make an effort to break into the starting lineup. After the match against Arsenal, where Depay was substituted during halftime, he remained on the bench against Everton, and played only a few minutes against CSKA. These months have been interesting for the young Dutchman.
"He needs to be corrected. Memphis needs to understand that he is a member of a football team and that this game is not an individual sport," - former Ajax coach Co Adriaanse commented last week about the winger. But he was not the only one who criticized the young Dutchman.
"We have seen many times that some players cannot fit into the team's philosophy. And that's the factor that you can't know about when buying a footballer. You just have to wait and see it for yourself. That's what happened with Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao," - Van Gaal said after the Everton match.
At the moment, it seems that Depay is not part of United's starting eleven. Who would have thought about it before the season started?
Will Vincent Kompany start in the starting City lineup?
"Both Mangala and Otamendi play very well. We will start thinking about the derby on Thursday. And we have a lot of things to consider before the start of these matches," - Pellegrini said regarding the possible return of the team captain to the lineup during the derby.
Some question why the manager responded to this question in this way. On one hand, there is nothing unusual, and maybe the coach just wanted to praise the other two players for their performance during the match. However, many find it strange that Kompany may not return to the team's starting lineup for the United match.
City played 1170 minutes this season. Of those, team captain Kompany played 527 minutes - slightly less than half of the total time. During the time when the Belgian was on the field, the team conceded only one goal, scored by Mario Mandzukic in the Champions League. However, when the defender was not there, the team conceded 12 goals. And although numbers do not always reflect a player's contribution on the field, it is probably safe to say that City's defense looks much safer when the team captain controls it on the field.
Kompany was not in the starting lineup in his team's last two matches, after a scandalous performance for Belgium in a match against Israel. Perhaps Pellegrini is simply saving his player's strength for the upcoming derby, but it is clear that the manager could have played him a little longer than the two minutes he played in these two matches to fully prepare the main defensive pillar for the match against United. However, if he decided to leave him on the bench, it would be one of the strangest starting lineup choices we have seen this season.
