1. Do we back ourselves to get a draw (or better) away at City? 2. Who is the more difficult away match; Newcastle or Sunderland? 3. Who is the more difficult home match; QPR or Swansea? I would much rather be in our position than City's. 1. I feel we can get a draw at City, or even a win, we're going to bounce back after the Everton result. 2. Newcastle are fighting for Champions league football and are in red-hot form, Sunderland don't have nearly as much to play for. 3. QPR are fighting to stay in the Premer League and have been giant killers lately, Swansea don't have much to play for. Of course all teams raise their game against United but I'm feeling confident, let's drop all the pessimism and get behind our team.
1) I believe that we can get a win or a draw. 2) For me, the Newcastle match is the toughest out of the 2 as Newcastle are fighting for the champions league spot alongside, Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea. Sunderland have nothing to play for now they cannot get a Europa league spot and the last time they won a game was 7 games ago which was against QPR. 3) I believe QPR will be the more tougher game as they are in a relegation scrap and they will want to ensure they stay in the league by trying to win or get a draw. On the other hand, Swansea are in 12th position and have nothing to play for.
Aside from the Derby, which I confidently believe we can go there and not lose, we have the two more straightforward games. Newcastle are a fine side with everything to play for, Sunderland are average at best and are playing like they went on holiday as soon as they were safe. I mean absolutely no disrespect to Swansea as i live here and they are very much my second team, but they are tailor made for us to give them a hiding if need be. If we can put 8 past arsenal we can put four or five past the Swans. I've watched them plenty enough this season to see the gaping holes in their defence. As has been said, QPR will more than likely be battling relegation and with agent Hughes in charge will hopefully be a handful.
I think if we stay compact at the back and play for a draw we'll get a draw but I'd much rather get the win but that'd mean playing a bit more open, probably on the counter attack which would give City more of a chance of scoring too. It's not going to be an easy game, but we've beaten City a couple of times this season already and we've not lost at the Etihad for some time. I think Newcastle have to be considered the tougher game, they're fighting for a top 4 spot and have been playing out of their skins this season. That said, Sunderland are a good team too and they can be very stubborn. I think QPR will be the tougher of the home games as Swansea are safe and QPR are still scrapping. It's all speculation and guesswork though, we all know anything can happen on the day.
Yeah I've been trying to figure out which way I would prefer us to play against City. Fergie has been playing 4-4-2 consistantly recently with very few changes to the team, basically just rotating a few players (Hernandez for Welbeck, Nani for Young, Giggs for Scholes etc) every now and then. I think we may stick with the team of the last few weeks rather than dropping Welbeck for another central midfielder, especially since we dont have too many in-form midfielders waiting on the bench. If we had a fit Fletcher or Anderson that might have been an option, but our wingers and strikers have been playing well recently, so I think they'll all play. However, City's midfield is so strong I have a sneaky suspicion Fergie might change things up a bit (although second guessing him is impossible usually) to make us a bit more solid defensively. Perhaps sticking Welbeck on the left wing and moving Young/Nani into an attacking midfield position to flood the midfield a bit more...
