Premier League title could be decided before or on Manchester Derby day

They think it’s all over. It could be now! Manchester United is currently 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League and ahead of their rivals, Manchester City. I believe that United will win the title if City fails to decrease this lead by half in the five games running up to and including the Manchester Derby on 6^th April.

This Derby game will be at Old Trafford so have no doubt the United fans will be rubbing the points difference in the City fans faces, just like City did when they defeated United 6-1 back in October 2011.

This time last season, City was sitting on the top of the table, five points clear of United but United had a game in hand.

City’s home record was impeccable too having won all 14 league home games at this point of the season, scoring 42 goals and only conceding six.

This season has been a different story though as they won nine, drawn three and lost one game at home, scoring 29 and conceding 11.

Their away form has taken a slight hit when compared to last season too. City’s current away record of winning six, drawing five and losing two games is a marginal decrease from last season’s record at this point of winning seven, drawing three and losing three.

However, a lot of fans of the Premier League will say the main reason for the separation between the two clubs is one man, United’s summer signing of Robin Van Persie, but I don’t believe this is the case.

United’s home and away record this season is more-or-less the same as what it was at this point last season.

So if you removed £22.5m Van Persie from the United squad, would the likes of Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck be able to step up to fill his place?

The answer is clearly yes as shown from how United performed last season when they didn’t have RVP at all.

Granted, City would definitely be performing better this season if they were able to persuade RVP to come to them last season.

But they don’t have him and most of their strikers have failed to match or improve on their goal scoring records from last season.

Sergio Aguero has only scored nine goals this season in the Premier League. He has a lot of goals to find if he is to match his 23 goals he scored last season.

Carlos Tevez has scored seven goals this season, improving on his last season Premier League goal scoring record of four. However, I still don’t think this is good enough for a striker of Manchester City.

Edin Dzeko is City’s top goal scorer this season with 11 goals, three shy of his tally last season of 14. But it’s a similar situation as Tevez as I still don’t believe this is good enough.

City’s defence has been better than United’s defence this season, having only conceded 24 goals compared to United who have conceded 31 goals.

But without a striking force getting the goals, this means a lot of draws have occurred this season for City, eight in total.

With five games to go before the Manchester Derby on the 6^th April, in my eyes, City need to half the points difference between them and United if they still want to be in title contention.

It won’t be easy for City, as they have tough games against Chelsea, Everton and a newly reformed Newcastle side.

United’s run of games before the Manchester Derby seems to come cross a lot easier, with ties against QPR, Norwich and Reading.

With all this taken into consideration though, United seem to have the upper hand so I think United will win the title if they stay on their current form and not allow their point lead ahead of City to decrease.

City’s manager Roberto Mancini recently admitted he feels his side now has a 10% chance of winning the Premier League and he must make changes to his squad if he is to make this 10% achievable.

But United’s manager Sir Alex Ferguson is not the type of manager to admit that the job is done until the final whistle on the last day of the season.

And he’s right to think so as any City fans will tell you too, thanks to Aguero’s 95^th minute goal on the last day of last season, anything is possible and nothing should be written off early.

twitter - @ConorJPorter

The Worlds Leading Sports Star In 2010 Was Carlos Tevez And Here's Why

Carlos Tevez - Manchester City Striker

Carlos Tevez, 27, is no doubt one of the best, if not, the best footballer in the Premier League and the world’s leading sports star in 2010. 


Since signing for Manchester City in July 2009 from local rivals Manchester United, he has been recognised as a player with great importance to the City squad in every game which they play. His contribution towards Manchester City throughout the 2009/2010 Premier League season can only be graded as phenomenal scoring a total of 23 goals, the 4^th highest goal scorer in the Premier League, and helping Manchester City finish 5^th place. 


This was Manchester City’s highest finishing position in the Premier league since the competition began in 1992 and only just missing them out on a Champions League spot. Carlos Tevez always steps up to the mark and sets an example to the rest of the team whether Manchester City is playing against their local rivals Manchester United, or against any other club in the Premier League. 


A key game which he contributed in the 2009/2010 Premier League season was against Chelsea on the 27^th February 2010 when he scored two goals to help Manchester City win 4-2, adding more pressure onto Tottenham Hotspur for 4^th place. 


However, this wasn’t enough as Tottenham Hotspur won the vital match against Manchester City by 1-0 on 5^th May 2010 giving them 4^th place and a Champions League spot. 


His overall fantastic performance for his first season at Manchester City earned him the ‘Player’s Player of the Year’ award and the ‘Etihad Player of the Year’ award.  Carlos Tevez was selected for the Argentina 2010 FIFA World Cup squad taking place in South Africa. He scored two goals for Argentina in the competition, both against Mexico in the Round of 16. 


There was though a lot of controversy over the first goal because Carlos Tevez was a couple of yards offside when he headed the ball into the back of the net. It was only because the goal was shown on the big screen in the Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg that the Mexican players surrounded the linesman and started to complain as everybody could see that Carlos Tevez was offside, causing it to be one of the most memorable events of the competition. 


After the World Cup, Carlos Tevez was awarded the captain arm band for Manchester City in replace for Kolo Toure. He continued his scoring form from 2009/2010 into the 2010/2011 Premier League season kicking off his scoring against Liverpool with two great goals helping Manchester City to their first win of the season. 


He then continued his goal scoring form against Chelsea with a 1-0 victory taking his tally to six goals in five games. Now in 2011, we can already see that Carlos Tevez is continuing his fantastic goal scoring form and earning his status of a world-class footballer. For as long as he doesn’t pick up any injuries, I see no reason as to why Carlos Tevez can’t continue to play football at a elite level, and help Manchester City continue to reach for the highest honours possible in football. 


The future is bright for Carlos Tevez. The future is bright for Manchester City for obtaining such a great player.


twitter - @ConorJPorter