Which should seem obvious as a Man City fan. However as regular readers will recall in the past I have consistently suggested that United would win these contests because their team happened to match up well against City, particularly in midfield. Tonight should be different if City have the team and tactics in place that I suspect.

So what has changed? City have got better obviously, but in the past the United strengths happened to mirror the weaknesses of City. Paul Scholes in particular has bossed the midfield so many times. Quite simply playing a 4-2-3-1 against United gives too much of the overall control to United. The 3 in a 4-2-3-1 are spread across the field and allow the initiative to be lost.

Constantly we see harping by the press and opposing fans about City's three holding midfielders. Barry, de Jong and Yaya Toure are not holding midfielders; they are designed in an Inter Diamond to be a disruptive force that breaks up the opposition's midfield play, retains possession and then distributes the ball.

The Inter diamond then has a fourth component, at the top of the diamond, who is the creative force. It's the responsibility of this player, an Attacking Midfielder if you will, to connect the three midfielders, the two full backs operating as wing backs and the central striking pair. City have been forced to play only one striker early in the season due to injuries not only up front, but also at full back which is a crucial part of the equation. Further the fitness issue surrounding those returning from the World Cup meant that the creative part of the diamond was unavailable.

In David Silva City have that creative force and in Boateng and Kolarov the club also have the full backs who can play the supporting wing back role.

When operated correctly the midfield is overloaded with players any of whom other than de Jong can move into attack depending on the circumstances.

It's a shame that Balotelli will miss the game as a Tevez-Balotelli combination would have been useful and there was a chance that for the first time all year that City would have fielded what I believe is Mancini's preferred first team. Hart in Goal. Toure and Kompany in the centre of defense, Boateng and Kolarov as the full backs, de Jong, Barry, Yaya and Silva as the diamond with Tevez and Balotelli up front. Zabaleta may well continue at left back depending on the status of Kolarov.

If that team with Adebayor in place of Balotelli starts then City are my pick. If Milner and/or Johnson start - and I really like both players - then the formation is more of a Christmas tree and that will almost certainly not be as effective as the Inter diamond.

Football, winning football, is about how well you match up against the opponent. For the first time in a while City match up better in midfield than United. Doesn't mean City will win of course. However for the first time in a number of seasons it is a reasonable expectation rather than a hopeful one...