FA Cup / Michael Cox / 15 April 2011 /

Javier Hernandez upfront by himself or alongside Dimitar Berbatov? Gareth Barry in the middle...or Barry on the bench? Michael Cox ponders some of the big questions and give us his best bets ahead of this mouth-watering tie.

The third Manchester Derby of the season, and the most important for years. Despite City establishing themselves in the Top 5 recently, this is a fixture United have dominated over the last two seasons, with three wins from four. That said, the nature of the victories has been tight - a last-gasp Michael Owen finish, an equally late Paul Scholes header, and a stunning Wayne Rooney overhead kick. City can feel slightly unfortunate that they've taken just one point from the four meetings.

The two managers have the same concern for this game - how to cope without their main man upfront. Rooney is suspended following his foul-mouthed outburst into the camera in the game against West Ham a fortnight ago, whilst City's talisman Carlos Tevez picked up a hamstring injury in City's 3-0 defeat to Liverpool on Monday night.

Despite favouring 4-4-2 in recent weeks - even in 'big' games - Sir Alex Ferguson has played 4-5-1 against City both times this season, and in Rooney's absence, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him opt for just one striker. The choice would be between Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Hernandez - the Mexican started both Champions League games against Chelsea, but may struggle playing upfront alone. This could be a rare chance for Berbatov to start in a crucial United game.

Roberto Mancini may turn to Edin Dzeko upfront. The Bosnian has struggled in England as a whole so far, but has had a good impact in the cup competitions, scoring four goals in a City shirt in the FA Cup and Europa League. Mancini's problem has been how to accommodate both him and Tevez in the same team - and in their preferred positions - and in that respect, Tevez's absence may help Dzeko. Support will probably come from two of David Silva, Mario Balotelli and Adam Johnson - all three have very different qualities and take up completely different positions, so Mancini's choices on the flanks will dictate City's attacking threat.

Mancini's main dilemma recently has been whether to use two or three of Gareth Barry, Nigel de Jong and Yaya Toure. The Italian has often been criticised for the use of all three, and in recent weeks has felt confident enough to drop Barry and play another attacking player. For this game, however, he's likely to try and keep things tight early on - expect all three to start.

There's a danger that this game will be too congested in the middle - that was the main reason for the dreadfully dull 0-0 at the City of Manchester Stadium back in November. That contest saw six central midfielders on the pitch - none of whom would be categorised as anything like a creative player, and the two sides cancelled each other out. I think there's a decent chance this will happen here, but the 'under 2.5 goals' option at [1.75] doesn't look too promising. Instead, selecting 'No' in the 'Both sides to score?' market at around [1.96] would be a wiser choice.

The static central midfield zone will mean both sides try and get the ball wide, however - perhaps with more crosses than usual if the taller Berbatov and Dzeko are in for Rooney and Tevez. Keep an eye on which wingers and forward are used, but 13 or more corners might turn out to be decent bet, at around [3.5].

That also depends on the quality of the balls out to wide positions, though. A notable feature of the recent meeting between the sides was Paul Scholes' long, crossfield diagonal balls, something Michael Carrick also did very well in the two legs against Chelsea, whilst Ryan Giggs popped up on either flank to provide assists in that tie. The key to this game could be the quality of balls from the central midfield out wide - United are superior in that respect.

Recommended bets:

'No' in 'Both sides to score?' at [1.96]
13 or more corners at [3.5]

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