POLICE NUMBERS STEPPED UP FOR RETURN LEG

Rooney9 SG

Reds legend and MUTV pundit Denis Irwin looks ahead to Tuesday’s Manchester derby, as City and United meet in the Carling Cup semi-final first leg.

How will Sir Alex will approach this game?
Traditionally in the Carling Cup he’s played the kids but I think we’ll see a slightly more experienced side at City. The manager more or less said that would be the case after defeat to Leeds in the FA Cup so I think that’s what we’ll see, particularly because we’re away from home. City, despite the loss to Everton on the weekend, are a team in form and they haven’t been beaten at home all season. It won’t be easy.

Will the fact that it’s a local derby affect the manager’s selection?
Definitely. It adds to the whole occasion and the manager definitely won’t want to lose to them over the two legs. We’ve got the second leg at home, which is ideal, but you don’t want to put yourself in a position where you’re chasing the tie. For that reason I think we’ll see a few experienced faces on Tuesday.

What result would Sir Alex settle for on Tuesday?
I think we’re good enough to go there and win but I’d be fairly content to get a draw and bring them back to Old Trafford where we can hopefully dictate things a little more on our own patch. I think Sir Alex would be happy enough with a draw.

Will Roberto Mancini field a full-strength side?
I should think so. This is a terrific chance for City to win a trophy. It’s been a long wait for Manchester City fans and a trophy would certainly help get the ball rolling in this so-called ‘revolution’.

Have you noticed a change in Manchester City under Mancini?
Personally I can’t believe they got rid of Mark Hughes after only 18 months. He’d not done a bad job by any stretch of the imagination – I think he’d done everything that had been asked of him, but that’s the mad world we live in these days. But Mancini has started well and City’s defence looked very good in the first couple of games. I have to say, they do look a little more organised at the back. But I don’t think there have been too many other changes, aside from the arrival of Patrick Viera.

Which City player has impressed you most this season?
Well, we can’t ignore the fact that Carlos Tevez has been in terrific form recently. Craig Bellamy, too, has been one of their most consistent performers. He’s somebody who’s moved around an awful lot during his career and people probably expected him to move again last summer when City signed Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor. But he’s stuck around and responded really well. At the back, Shay Given’s been a really good buy and has a lot of experience. Mark Hughes did well in the transfer market and I don’t think anybody can argue that there’s a lot of talent at Eastlands.

After United went out to Leeds in the FA Cup some papers suggested we were seeing a shift in power in the city of Manchester. Do you see any evidence to support that?
Not at all. It’s much too early to be talking about that. I think everybody expected City to challenge for top-four honours this season – as I’ve said, they have a lot of good players – but to suggest they’re about to eclipse Manchester United as the city’s dominant force is premature. A shift in power doesn’t happen overnight… and I hope it never happens in Manchester. United have enjoyed incredible success in the last 20 years and for whatever reason a lot of journalists would like to see that

change. I admit the team have had some poor results recently but it takes more than that before you’ve got a crisis on your hands.

So, will United’s success continue this season?
I’m sure it will. We’ve got the right players at the club, people who have been down the finishing straight on enough occasions to know what needs to be done to get over the line. I’ve seen some good performances in recent weeks – even in one or two matches where the result didn’t go our way – so I think we’ve still got a very good chance of winning the league. And, of course, a couple of good results against City would take us to the Carling Cup final.

Finally, which of the 13 Manchester derbies you played in was your favourite?
Probably Roy Keane’s first one, in November 1993. We were 2-0 down and came back to win 3-2. Eric Cantona scored two and then Roy won it in the last few minutes. That was a terrific match.

Poignant SG

no doubts, utd have more history than city.

Rooney9 SG

Patrice Evra has vowed to stop old friend Carlos Tevez twisting the knife into Manchester United in Tuesday night's Carling Cup semi-final.

After leaving Old Trafford in such acrimonious circumstances last summer, Tevez has hit a rich vein of form for Manchester City.

Eight goals in December earned him the Premier League player-of-the-month prize before he started 2010 with a bang by slamming home a hat-trick against Blackburn a week ago.

The 25-year-old knows more goals could help fire City to their first domestic cup final since 1981, and he has warned Evra he now has United in his sights.

But Evra, who was part of an unlikely trio that included Tevez and Park Ji-sung during the Argentina star's time at Old Trafford, has responded to all his texts. And the answer is always the same.

"When I congratulated Carlito on his hat-trick against Blackburn, he replied that was just the warm-up for United and this was going to be two finals for him. But I told him no chance," said Evra.

"I remember when we played them in the league I managed to get a touch onto one of his shots at the last second and the ball hit the post rather than going into the net.

"I have to do the same again because I don't want him to score against us."

That 4-3 extravaganza exposed Tevez to the full brunt of United fans' ire.

Sir Alex Ferguson has always maintained a deal was struck to take the South American to Eastlands long before the end of last season.

His choice of club certainly did not go down well, although Evra insists Tevez leapt the great divide with a heavy heart.

"It is still painful when I see him wearing a Manchester City shirt," said the France full-back.

"It was not easy for him to move because Carlos was a Manchester United fan in his heart.

"But he is still a champion guy and now he is starting to play well, scoring a lot of goals.

"I am not surprised how well he is doing because he has a great mentality and a great spirit.

"He showed he was a good player when he was at Manchester United and now he is doing the same at City."

Ferguson has pledged to infuse his team with an element of youth, so the Da Silva twins Fabio and Rafael could both be involved, along with Republic of Ireland international Darron Gibson.

Dimitar Berbatov has not been ruled out either following Ferguson's revelation that the Bulgarian did not suffer a recurrence of his knee injury in the win over Burnley on Saturday.

Rooney9 SG

Dean was wrong to award City's penalty
Mike Dean's decision to award Manchester City a penalty in the 42nd minute sparked vehement protests from the visitors. Dean gave the spot-kick after United full back Rafael tugged Craig Bellamy’s shirt as the City attacker attempted to go past his man. If there is a foul on an attacker which starts outside the penalty area and continues inside then a penalty should be awarded. If the foul is committed outside the area and the player falls inside the box then a free-kick outside is correct. If there are two fouls, one outside and one inside then the referee, who has played advantage after the first offence, should award a penalty. Dean thought that last scenario occurred last night and therefore awarded a penalty, which Carlos Tevez clinically converted. I struggled to see the second foul inside the area but Dean clearly felt otherwise as he explained his decision to the furious United players.
Graham Poll (former FIFA referee), Daily Mail

Another flashpoint in the first leg, the trading of "provocative gestures" (The Independent) between Carlos Tevez and Gary Neville, features in most of the national papers. The FA have since confirmed they will "look into" the United captain's part in the exchange.

Away from the match reports and the predictable pieces about a power shift in Manchester, there is transfer talk - one in, one out, both with Spanish connections. The Mail claims, "United's uncertain financial future has prompted Spanish giant Barcelona to try to unsettle Old Trafford’s most valuable asset, Wayne Rooney."

The Mirror believes United "are in talks" with Racing Santander attacking midfielder Sergio Canales. Alan Nixon writes, "Both United and Chelsea want to tie him up now - as they are free to speak to him because his deal is expiring (in the summer)."

Rooney9 SG

Police were on Sunday planning to step up security amid fears that the spat between Carlos Tevez and Gary Neville would linger into Wednesday's Carling Cup semi-final second leg between Manchester United and Manchester City.

An extra 75 police than normal will be on duty on Wednesday and spot checks will be made at pubs around the ground in what is described as "the highest risk" game at Old Trafford this season.

The first leg, which City won 2-1, saw Tevez and United substitute Neville exchange gestures and later Tevez called his former team-mate "a moron" and "a bootlicker".

Tevez's agent Kia Joorabchian today admitted the frosty relations between the two, sparked when Neville insisted United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was right not to keep Tevez at Old Trafford, could spill over into Wednesday's encounter.

Joorabchian, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme, said: "Carlos played two years at Manchester United and he has very good relationships with a lot of the players. He admires and likes Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra and Ryan Giggs and he considers a lot of them friends of his.

"I don't think he will expect to have any atmosphere in relation to the players. But I guess he and Gary Neville are not going to be very good friends any time shortly."

Police made 18 arrests at last week's match and expect to make more before Wednesday's return after viewing video cameras.

And Ian Hopkins, assistant chief constable of Greater Manchester police, revealed talks would take place tomorrow with United and City officials and the Football Association in a bid to prevent any trouble.

Hopkins admitted he would also be reminding the players they had a responsibility not to provoke trouble.

He told Sportsweek: "I will be meeting with both the clubs again along with the FA tomorrow to discuss the general crowd behaviour and making sure that they understand their responsibility not to do anything that's likely to incite the crowd.

"We will be making the points very strongly that the players are professionals, they need to recognise the impact they can have on the crowd and it's going to be really passionate again on Wednesday. There's a lot at stake for both teams and for the fans."

Joorabchian, meanwhile, insisted that Tevez is not bitter at leaving Manchester United and his dispute is with Neville alone.

Joorabchian said: "If you don't have respect and class you have to accept that they are entitled to say something back. Gary Neville stepped into something that maybe he shouldn't have done and since he didn't have that respect Carlos felt he he had to answer.

"I don't think he (Tevez) has ever been bitter to Manchester United.

"I don't think Carlos came anywhere near hitting his peak at Manchester United. In the next three or four years he has a lot more to offer."

The player's advisor also believes the spat with Neville has only increased the anticipation around the match

He said: "When I went to the City match I saw an atmosphere which was absolutely unbelievable, a great vibe, so much passion in it.

"This little bitter matter has done nothing but improve this passion and it will give us an even greater build-up and a greater excitement."