Manchester United v Queens Park Rangers – Sunday 8th April – Old Trafford (14:30)
Manchester v Queens Park Rangers
The battle by the Manchester clubs to rule English football has captured the imagination of the football world and once again their respective games take centre stage this weekend. The Red Devils play host to an erratic Queens Park Rangers side at Old Trafford on Sunday. With the Arsenal/City game being played after this match, The Red Devils will be searching for all 3 points to move them eight clear of their noisy neighbours.
United, as they have done so often in the past, have come extremely well since the turn of the year and have won ten and drawn one, of their last twelve matches. Whilst this resurgence was taking place at Old Trafford, Mancini and his charges were feeling the pressure of being in the spotlight as real title-contenders and their last twelve matches have yielded just seven wins, two draws and three losses. There isn’t much doubt that the Sky Blues are buckling under this immense pressure as they initially lost just once from nineteen outings. They have gone from being five points in front to be the exact same points behind United within a matter of weeks.
The Red Devils have won eight on the trot and continue to be impressive away from home and in fact have lost more games at home this season. They struggled to breach an organized Blackburn defence on Monday night until the 81st minute when Antonio Valencia unleashed a powerful strike from the right. Ashley Young then put the icing on the cake with a sweet strike from just outside the box to give United a 2-0 victory. The one thing that was highly noticeable was how deep Wayne Rooney was playing and that left Hernadez isolated up front which didn’t make for good viewing, if you are a United supporter, that is. The Red Devils, as the form shows are getting the victories but are still playing brilliantly in patches. Their last home match against Fulham was an intriguing contest. United failed to take the numerous chances they had early on and then eventually scored three minutes before the break, courtesy of Wayne Rooney. However, the second half was interesting as once again United failed to take their early chances and the players and supporters had to endure a nervy end to the match. It was a strange predicament as United are not normally known to buckle under pressure as they have been there on many occasions. That is a major concern and a free-flowing football side like Queens Park Rangers could make them pay.
The visitors are erratic but boast victories over Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal this season. They have a poor away record but I expect them to be full of confidence following their 2-1 defeat of Arsenal last weekend and they could rise to the occasion against the reigning champions. Their main playmaker Adel Taarabt is in the form of his life and must be closely watched by the home team.
United beat the visitors 2-0 in the reverse fixture in December but there is much more at stake now and the home sides nerves are starting to show in their pursuit of their 20th English Championship. I expect those nerves to get the better of them and the visitors to claim a point at the Theatre Of Dreams.
