It’s time for the big one

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If one were to take Roberto Mancini’s word on the matter, let’s close the case. “It’s all over!” he said.

“No chance Manchester City can win this!,” he bellowed after City scraped past Norwich and West Brom and Wolves, scoring just a miserly 12 goals and Manchester United converted a nervous eight-point cushion into a commanding three-point lead. When it comes to mind games, apparently, the most blatant and obvious ones work.

Funny that only two weeks ago Manchester United fans were contemplating whether or not they would be getting a guard of honour at Etihad Stadium and are now nervously biting their fingernails.

It rarely happens that you would describe the team, leading the table with two games left, to go on and win the title as a twist in the tale. This is one such occasion.

The force is with City at the moment — winning three back-to-back games, a prodigal son returning, Aguero hitting top form again, Ballotelli disappearing etc. If you were to write a fairytale, this would be City’s year.

A win against United would see them level on points with an insurmountable goal difference advantage. For Manchester United, this is a match where they look to avoid the ignominy of being the team which threw it away.

Rest assured, Sir Alex Ferguson will have his team chomping away to bits the whole week leading up to this match. They will know that even a draw here will make it just too hard for City to regain the top spot this season.

Expect a nervy edge to the match, and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if the match was decided by a late goal, something which would encapsulate this season as a whole.

DANGER MEN

Manchester City: Carlos Tevez

Manchester United: Nani

PREDICTION: 1-1