Vincent Kompany, Fernandinho and Martin Demichelis cut dejected figures as they slumped to a defeat against Crystal Palace

Manchester City’s season has really dropped off in the span of just over a month thanks to a long series of poor performances that led to a string of really poor results. When City went into their last clash against United at the start of the season they were on the back of a really poor reversal at the hands of West Ham United. This time around, the story is pretty much the same as they head into their clash against Louis Van Gaal’s men on the back of a similarly poor defeat, this time at the hands of Crystal Palace. However, what Pellegrini needs to hope for is that his boys can come up with the same response that they had the last time they played United after losing the previous game.

Manuel Pellegrini has termed his team’s recent form as “garbage” 

Earlier in the season, a goal from Sergio Aguero ensured that the Citizens powered to victory over their cross town rivals and went back to winning ways. On this occasion, the City fans will be hoping for a similarly swift return to good form. Whether or not they get it is another story altogether. The times have changed and as unbelievable as it may sound, the truth is that it is United and not City who are higher up the Premier League table. That point would have been so hard to believe had someone told it to us a couple of months ago, but unfortunately for us Citizens, that is the truth. Not only are United higher than us in the League Table, they also occupy a much more exalted position in the League’s Form Table as well. United are sitting pretty in second place on the Premier League Form Table after winning their last five games. A total of 15 points from the last six games is what they have while City have a measly nine points out of a possible 18. With that total, they currently occupy 11th place in the Form Table which is surely not a position where a club the stature of City would like to be seen.

United head into the game with some good form after winning their last five games

Keeping these factors in mind, and also the fact that United have beaten the likes of Liverpool and Spurs in their last five games gives our most despised rivals a definite edge over us for the upcoming match. We on the other hand, have the odds stacked against us as we have succumbed to defeats at the hands of Crystal Palace, Burnley and Liverpool in our last five games. Overall, Sunday evening’s fixture against Manchester United will be a very difficult game for us and there’s no two ways about that. City need to be on top of their game and they better hope that not playing in front of their own fans can have a positive effect on their performance because if they were to lose this game, they would drop to a massive five points below United who themselves would occupy third place in the League, that is one place above ours.