Chelsea need to avoid long-throw blues, plus: a vacant spot for Liverpool and West Ham’s best hope for survival
Can the 198th derby be any spicier for Manchester United and their latest interim manager, Michael Carrick? This is his second caretaker tenure though the three games of November-December 2021 (beating Villarreal and Arsenal, drawing with Chelsea) hardly compares to sending out an XI to try to beat Manchester City in Saturday’s early kick-off. Pep Guardiola’s high-performing unit remain in contention on all fronts. Carrick takes charge of a United suffering the aftershocks of a latest manager sacking, hoping to salvage the season via European qualification. The lad from Wallsend has 17 games to do so – his new team are in seventh place on 32 points, so victory over City would be a fine start. But you wonder if the match might end with Carrick and United humbled or, even worse, humiliated. Jamie Jackson
Manchester United v Manchester City, Saturday 12.30pm (all times GMT)
Chelsea v Brentford, Saturday 3pm
Leeds v Fulham, Saturday 3pm
Liverpool v Burnley, Saturday 3pm
Continue reading…Chelsea need to avoid long-throw blues, plus: a vacant spot for Liverpool and West Ham’s best hope for survivalRace for the golden boot: Premier League top scorersCan the 198th derby be any spicier for Manchester United and their latest interim manager, Michael Carrick? This is his second caretaker tenure though the three games of November-December 2021 (beating Villarreal and Arsenal, drawing with Chelsea) hardly compares to sending out an XI to try to beat Manchester City in Saturday’s early kick-off. Pep Guardiola’s high-performing unit remain in contention on all fronts. Carrick takes charge of a United suffering the aftershocks of a latest manager sacking, hoping to salvage the season via European qualification. The lad from Wallsend has 17 games to do so – his new team are in seventh place on 32 points, so victory over City would be a fine start. But you wonder if the match might end with Carrick and United humbled or, even worse, humiliated. Jamie JacksonManchester United v Manchester City, Saturday 12.30pm (all times GMT)Chelsea v Brentford, Saturday 3pmLeeds v Fulham, Saturday 3pmLiverpool v Burnley, Saturday 3pm Continue reading…
