05-28-2019, 02:42 AM
Manchester, England (Sports Network) - Manchester City will host Manchester United at the Etihad on Sunday in what is shaping up to be another classic derby between two bitter rivals. Both sides come into the affair on seven points in the Premier League table, three points off the pace of first-place Liverpool. They also are riding high after picking up wins in Champions League action on Tuesday. City cruised to a 3-0 victory at Viktoria Plzen while United battled to a 4-2 defeat of Bayer Leverkusen, a pleasing result given the impact that Wayne Rooney had on the proceedings. The Englishman bagged a brace in Tuesdays clash to become Great Britains all-time leading scorer in the Champions League with 29 goals. He also brought his United tally to 200 goals across all competitions. "It was probably Waynes best performance that Ive seen for a while," United midfielder Michael Carrick told the clubs official website. "Its great to have him in that form - he can be untouchable when hes like that. "To have lads like that in your team is brilliant. I thought Antonio (Valencia) was immense on Tuesday night as well and to have Wayne and Robin (van Persie) scoring and assisting is fantastic. Even if theyre maybe not having the best of games they can always come up with something. I thought they played really well on Tuesday." The performance puts United in good stead heading into such a massive fixture, and the Red Devils will have three points in their sights having turned out some solid displays thus far. "I dont think weve played that badly so far this season," Carrick added. "The Swansea (win) was a good game, the Chelsea one was tight, but Liverpool is always a bit of a one-off game which you cant really read too much into. "We won at the weekend, and on Tuesday we took it to another level and improved again. Hopefully we can do it again on Sunday. The performance will breed confidence, and well have to do it all again on Sunday." United proved last season that the club is capable of winning at the Etihad as the Red Devils marched on to three points with a 3-2 win in the corresponding fixture last term. Rooney produced two goals that were eventually canceled out by Yaya Toure and Pablo Zabaleta, but it was van Persies last-gasp free kick that proved to be the difference between the two sides. City will be eager to erase any lingering memories of that defeat, as well as its title concession to United at the end of the season, but it will need to overcome any travel fatigue that may have set in from the clubs midweek journey to the Czech Republic. Arsenal also endured some travel during the week as it claimed a 2-1 victory over Marseille at the Stade Velodrome on Wednesday, but the Gunners will not enjoy the extra day of rest that the Citizens were afforded. Arsene Wengers side, looking to make it a fourth straight Premier League win, will take on Stoke City at the Emirates on Sunday. Also on Sunday, Tottenham, which hosted Tromso in Europa League action on Thursday, will head to Cardiff City Stadium to take on the Bluebirds while Swansea City, fresh off of its comfortable Europa League victory at Valencia, will travel to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace. West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland have struggled mightily out of the gates this season. Neither side has managed to earn a win through four matches, but they will fancy their chances to claim maximum points on Saturday when the bottom-two clubs do battle at the Hawthorns. First-place Liverpool enters the weekend in a rare position as it looks down at the rest of the Premier League with 10 points through four games. The Reds will return to action following Mondays 2-2 draw at Swansea City with a potentially tricky fixture against Southampton at Anfield on Saturday. Elsewhere on Saturday, former Norwich City boss Paul Lambert returns to Carrow Road as he leads his Aston Villa side into a contest with the Canaries, Newcastle looks to extend its unbeaten run to four games with a positive result against Hull City at St. James Park, Everton tests its unbeaten start to the season with a trip to Upton Park to take on West Ham, and Chelsea looks to return to winning ways after back-to-back defeats to Everton and FC Basel when it welcomes Fulham to Stamford Bridge. Sky F1 pundit Johnny Herbert believes it is time for Fernando Alonso to retire and the Spaniard shouldnt return from his medically enforced break in Bahrain. The two-time world champion was stopped from competing in the desert race as the chest injuries he suffered during his horrific crash at the season-opening Australian GP had not sufficiently healed.Herbert feels the accident was another sign of Alonsos abilities deteriorating. McLarens Fernando Alonso and Haas Esteban Gutierrez collide in the Australian Grand Prix I dont think Fernando should come back, Herbert said. The reason why I say that with the Fernando at the top of his game, and the last time we saw that was probably in 2011-12 at Ferrari, you could always sense there was a real urgency, particularly in his qualifying laps, he was right on the edge.I know things have changed as far as the cars are concerned, but as far as performance is concerned we havent seen this two-time world champion that everyone says is the best. I dont see it. And we havent seen domination at McLaren and Jenson [Button] has done a better job. Fernando Alonso confrronts Johnny Herbert about his comments suggesting the Spaniard should retire.dddddddddddd Hes commented that hed be happy to leave F1 with two world championships - that is a man who has not just given up the chance of winning another, but that effectively is giving up on racing.Bahrain GP TV times and how you can watch it on Sky SportsHerbert was amazed that Alonso did not fight harder to drive in Bahrain after the doctors declared him unfit.He doesnt like these new cars which is another reason for him to quit, the Sky Sports F1 pundit said.He had the incident in Barcelona and he didnt go racing, but when a driver has an accident usually they want to get back in the car - when I crashed I told everyone I wanted to get back in the car. But even with his crash in Australia we still didnt get that. If it was a race-winning car and possibly there was a world championship at stake I think he would be in the car. You always find a way, just like Niki Lauda did after his burns in 1976.He seems to be out of motivation and all these elements add to the performances you dont expect of a two-time world champion.We dont see that passion from him to want to drive and push himself to the limit when he is in an F1 car. That is another part of his armour that seems to be lacking at the minute.He still has a good racing brain and knows where to put the car, but he doesnt have the pace. Alonsos highs and lows at McLaren We take a look at Alonsos best and worst moments since rejoining McLaren The mistake we saw in Australia was an error on his side. One incident that flashes before my mind is how similar it was to the Michael Schumacher-Jean-Eric Vergne incident in Singapore.I know personally you get to a certain point in your career and you start to go downhill. You can be at the top of your game for a long time, but there will be a drop off.The things he says, the things that have happened on track, his qualifying pace, and that error in Australia, to me they say it is time for him to hang up his helmet. Every race live in 2016 Sky Sports F1 brings you every race live in 2016. Fast and easy online upgrade - click here. 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