Undoubtedly two of the biggest games this weekend are the derbies between Manchester City v Manchester United and Arsenal hosting near neighbours Tottenham.
United manager Erik Ten Hag has been carefully planning how to stop midfield attacking maestro Kevin de Bruyne from feeding goal machine Erling Haaland. Ten Hag knows it is a strategy battle he must win. Ex-United manager Louis Van Goal believes he has the answer and has passed on his advice to Ten Hag.
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He believes that first choice left-back Tyrell Malacia should move closer inside with the precise instruction to stop Kevin de Bryune from feeding Haaland. Malacia controlled De Bruyne in Holland’s 1-0 win over Belgium in the Nations League.
Van Gaal explained his strategy when he told us, “I had to stop De Bruyne and I wanted to see what Malacia could do so I switched him to left centre back because De Bruyne played a lot in that area of the field. It’s better to have a pitbull instead of a tactical player.” Ten Hag has listened to his friend and recently switched Malacia to right-back in a Europa League game but this week he has been working with his assistants and deciding whether to change his back line and as I write this I understand he is very reluctant to break up the partnership of Raphael Verane and Lisandro Martinez in their current positions. Cristiano Ronaldo returned from his native Portugal with a black eye and a cut down his nose after clashing with a defender during their 4-1 win against Czech Republic. Pep Guardiola has been spending time working on a plan to release Kevin De Bruyne from the tight marking planned by Ten Hag so he can feed Haaland. It is obvious that both managers see the De Bruyne, Haaland versus Raphael Verane, Tyrfell Malacia and Lisandro Martinez confrontation as the most important aspect of this match. Neither United or City coaches have been able to spend much time with their key players because of the internationals and this game will be tightly fought. Pep’s main worry is the injury to John Stones who pulled up in England’s match with a hamstring problem and had to be replaced. The medical team at the Etihad Stadium are awaiting his arrival to assess the damage as I write this column. Guardiola has tasked Kyle Walker with martialling Jadon Sancho who is in good form and his job is to stop Jadon from working his way from the wing into the centre. Once again Ten Hag has been sitting in his office trying to sort out his biggest challenge. Casimero was bought from Real Madrid for these big games. He is dependable, fights like crazy for ball control and has vision, however his place is taken by Scott McTominay who has improved beyond all expectation under Ten Hag. Which one will start? Ten Hag will make his decision after Friday’s training session. Signing Christian Erikson on a free transfer was a gamble which has paid off handsomely and his partnership with McTominay has been the inspiration behind United’s resurgence this season.
If Tottenham can pull off a win they will overtake their local rivals Arsenal to go second in the table. The match will be refereed by Anthony Taylor who has already courted controversy this season when he sent coach Antonio Conte off the field with a red card during the feisty match with Chelsea. Conte is not looking forward to meeting Taylor again. Tottenham’s Harry Kane is back to his scoring best with a goal midweek for England. Eight Arsenal players returned from international duty carry injuries. Their medical team have been working hard on Thomas Party who returned from international duty with a knee problem however coach Mikel Arteta is hoping he will be fit to run midfield but admits he is doubtful for the Tottenham game. Arteta does however, have Martin Odegaard back from injury and he is likely to start because control of midfield is going to be vital in this tight match. Zinchenko and Tomiyasu are still nursing injuries and are fighting to be fit in time to be considered. Odegaard injured a thigh in the match against Brentford but remained at the Emirates for extra treatment with the club physios before departing for Norway’s international where he was in the starting squad. Good news for Arsenal fans is Reiss Nelson returning to training with the first team squad. Kieran Tierney received a head knock playing for Scotland and returned to Tottenham early but will be fit to play this weekend. Conte also has Son Hueng-Minback in contention after his late entry into the Brentford game where he scored a hattrick. Richarlisson is also fit and Conte is planning to use him in the match.
City delay Kyle Walker deal
Manchester City have decided to delay talks regarding Kyle Walker’s new contract. Kyle has 20 months to go on his current deal but at 32 years-of-age he is beginning to be injury prone. The right back has missed a few games for City however he did travel and play for England in the Nations League. City tell me they are waiting until after the World Cup finals before deciding on his future beyond 2024. Generally Kyle has an excellent injury-free career record but entering the final period of his long service, City are waiting to see how he handles five weeks of intense competition in Qatar at the World Cup and then his return to help City in their quest for Premier League and European glory.
Coach says Costa could start for Wolves
Word coming out of Wolverhampton is the possible debut of Diego Costa. Coach Bruno Lage is impressed with Costa’s training fitness and Raul Jimenez is still struggling with a groin injured sustained in the warm-up before the 1-0 win over Southampton on September 3rd. Summer signing Sasa Kalajdzig is not going to be fit for some weeks with knee ligament damage and Costa is Lage’s planned replacement.
Chelsea track 17-year-old
Chelsea boss Graham Potter has told Fulham the Blues are ready to negotiate to buy 17-year-old junior Luke Harris. He has not even played for Fulham’s first team yet but was selected for the Welsh national squad for the game against Poland. Chelsea scouts noted Harris’s performance for the Fulham Under 21 team when they played the Blues earlier this year and he scored a hat-trick. Fulham has a first class academy which has provided players such as Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho, both now at Liverpool. The January transfer window will likely see the two clubs doing a deal.
Maguire not fazed by critics
Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has been under fire for some time regarding his performances and has lost his starting position. This week he said that he doesn’t read or listen to the negative comments made about him and said he is always ready to play when selected by Erik Ten Hag. He commented, “I feel fit and fresh. On my form, I don’t know what has been said and I don’t really read about it. I came off the back of three positive games with England in the summer and a good pre-season. I felt really good. Don’t forget that I also went to the Euros after an eight week injury and got into the team of the tournament.” It is a good job Harry doesn’t read about himself after giving away two goals playing for England against Germany this week.
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