United Then Chelsea And Now Liverpool Can Dent City's Title Charge

Liverpool employed speed merchants against Chelsea last weekend, with Johnson, Bellamy, Maxi and Suarez all starting against the Blue Champions. It turned out to be shrewd decision by Dalglish and his coaching team as the Reds pressed high up the pitch, robbing Chelsea players of time and space to move the ball.

Charlie Adam was especially instrumental in the win over Chelsea last weekend. Though his corner kicks are yet to reach the heights and standards that he set at Blackpool, his passing against Chelsea finally resembled Xabi Alonso, the player he was brought in to replace.

In recent seasons, Liverpool has become a team feared by title contenders and this season is no different. Without any real aspirations to be Premiership champions, the Reds are still "spoilers" as evidenced by victories over Arsenal and Chelsea. Only Spurs out of the top six have beaten Liverpool. At Anfield, Liverpool are unbeaten, but has not been able to turn home advantage into wins rather than draws.

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Adam Johnson's Stunning Strike Glosses Over Citizen's Gritty Win

Mancini and his Manchester City have shown us many sides to their character this season. They are resolute in defence, even without the collossal Nigel de Jong. City have shown that they are not content to sit back on a lead. They have served up game after game of excellent attacking football, never resting but always probing. And against Wolves, they showed that they can be patient, they confirmed that they have believe in themselves and more importantly, City proved that they too know how to win while playing "ugly".

This match against Wolves at home, was supposed to be the crowning glory of an excellent week as Mancini's City came back expecting to bask in the adoration of their fans. Unfortunately, Wolves proved tougher to subdue with Welsh No. 1 Wayne Hennessey equal to everything that Aguero, Silva, Nasri and Dzeko threw at him.

In the end, Manchester City had to wait before they scored their customary three goals against Premier League opposition. Adam Johnson racing all the way from defence, collected a pass from Yaya and fired home a 20-yard curler past the Wolves keeper.

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Manchester United In For A City Mauling?

Sir Alex Ferguson, in retrospect, bottled it at Anfield last weekend. In contrast, Roberto Mancini decided to freshen up after the international break and Manchester City got their just reward. It is the "noisy neighbours" who are stepping onto the "prawn-sandwiched" 75,000 capacity-filled Theatre of Dreams as the Premier League leaders.

United starts and finishes all their games strongly. Their movement and quick passing right from the get-go, often forces the opposing teams to make mistakes. The Red Devils also finishes matches very well. No team in the Premier League (bar Liverpool two seasons ago) has ever come back from losing positions more times than the "comeback kings" of Manchester United. This is reflected by their 22 goals scored at the 0-30 mins and 66-90 mins period.

City has a more controlled game, a bit like an Italian team. Their patient buildup play usually stretches defenses and creates numerous goal mouth opportunities. The Citizens have scored 19 goals between the match periods of 31-75 mins, showing that they kill off the opposing teams while able to conserve energy in preparation of the next game.

Both teams have been playing football that is exciting, full of flair and entertaining to watch. The Manchester Derby has been highly charged in the recent seasons and this meeting at Old Trafford will have the added significance of Premiership leadership at stake.

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Manchester City Shows Strength In Depth While Berbatov Blows Bubbles

Roberto Mancini had learned from the Fulham lesson and as David Platt said, Mancini freshened up his team after the Champions League defeat at Munich. He rang in changes for the match against Blackburn and the replacements repaid his faith in them by scoring four goals against Rovers.

Mario Balotelli, Samir Nasri and Adam Johnson together with David Silva were the difference in another routine match for the Citizens. Everytime Adam Johnson plays, he always makes an impression on those who watch him. Fabio Capello obviously feels the same way as I did since he selected Johnson for the England squad.

With Tevez and Dzeko benched for their Munich outburst, Balotelli took his chance and produced another excellent performance. He even afforded a smile after his goal, and this is a player who does not celebrate goals. Mancini has got the Premier League's most talented squad and he must utilise its potential to its fullest advantage.

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Carlos Tevez Definitely A Premier League Success

Since the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo to the Spanish La Liga, the Premier League was searching for a new world class player who could be as brilliant as the phenomenal Portuguese. Fernando Torres threatened briefly until he started sulking more than scoring, Didier Drogba could never be that star face as he is all brute force but Carlos Tevez could have been that world class marquee player that the Barclays Premier League needed.

Instead for all the important goals he had scored for West Ham, Manchester United and City, he will forever be remembered for refusing to play in last night's Champions League defeat at Bayern Munich. Carlitos' two-year stay at Manchester City has been an ongoing saga. This latest episode has all but hasten his exit.

It's easy to forget the talismanic effects of Carlitos for City, after all the well documented problems he had faced. For West Ham fans though, this man can do no wrong, forever remembered for singlehandedly keeping the Hammers in the Premier League in his first season. No other player is more closely associated to conjuring up a miracle relegation escape as the effervescent Argentine star. Here's how he did it.

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City's Edin Dzeko Makes Impressive Debut Against Wolves

At £27 million, he is not the most expensive player in the Premier League. However for Manchester City, Edin Dzeko can only be seen as the possible final piece of the Citizen's objective to dominate the Barclays Premier League. And why not, Dzeko is the complete forward that City lacked. Physically suited for the Premiership, he is not just a target man but has the pace, creative intelligence and a poacher's instinct. Traits that only Carlos Tevez in the current City forward lineup can match.

His first match against Wolves turned out to be a very successful debut. He showed his ability when he picked up the ball near the halfway line, glided past one Wolves defender before laying on a perfect pass into the path of the phenomenal Yaya Toure to score.

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