Manchester United: Why Red Devils Will Catch Manchester City for Title

A lot has been said about who's going to hoist the Premier League trophy. Manchester City leads the table, so far, but Manchester United has been in constant improvement, threatening its archenemies.

After 24 games, Manchester United sits second in the table, with 55 points, just two away from City.

Despite having quite a successful start, six victories and two draws in the first eight matches, United couldn't keep up the pace and finally lost its first meeting with a dreadful 6-1 against the Citizens.

Meanwhile, City kept the undefeated for 14 games, until Chelsea finally cut the run with a 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.

United lost two consecutive matches against Blackburn (Dec. 31) and Newcastle (Jan. 4), something hadn't happened since last march, when the Red Devils fell short against Chelsea and Liverpool. 

It was a wake up call for Sir Alex Ferguson, ever since the Newcastle defeat, United has won three meetings and tied one.

In that same period, City won three games and lost one, which puts United one step closer to catching Roberto Mancini’s boys.

After falling short to advance to the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League, being tossed out of the FA Cup by Liverpool and defeated by Crystal Palace at the Carling Cup, United is poised to own its  20th Premier League title. 

To accomplish the feat, the Red Devils need to keep up with the good work and rely on each other. So far, they have scored 59 goals, conceded 24, and have 12 clean sheets, more than City, that has 10, and any other team.

After the winter transfer window, Sir Alex Ferguson decided not to sign any player and strive with what he has. Some of his footballers are key to take over City.

For starters, take Wayne Rooney, who now serves as a creative midfielder, making plays, sending key passes, but that hasn't lost his lethal instincts as striker. 

What he has done for the team is superb. He has scored 15 times so far, 27 percent of those between the 60 and 70 minutes. Regarding assists, Wazza has six, 17 percent of them from right of penalty area.

Don’t count out Javier Hernández, Danny Welbeck and Dimitar Berbatov who have scored a combine 21 goals out of United’s 57.

Chicharito has scored eight times, 25 percent of them between the 80 and 90 minutes, which makes him the perfect guy when Ferguson needs to seal the deal, for instance, last weekend, when he marked the tying goal against Chelsea.

Danny Welbeck has scored six times, three with the right foot, two with the head and one with the left foot, he’s also been successful in the assists department: he has four this season.

And despite all rumors regarding his imminent exit from United, Dimitar Berbatov has taken advantage of the 10 games he has played by scoring seven times.

Another key player is Ecuadorian Antonio Valencia. The 27-year-old winger has given the Red Devils a lot of game coming from the right side of the pitch. He has sent 62 crosses, has nine assists and two goals.

The work Manchester United has been doing from the midfield to the rival’s area is better by the minute. With a total of 57 goals, 10 of them in the last month, offense looks better than ever.

Of course not everything is done, and there’s room for improvement, take for instance David De Gea.

The Spaniard has been severely criticized by fans and media but supported by his teammates and manager. 

Despite several tough and silly mistakes, like the one he committed against City in October, and several others at the UEFA Champions League, in front of Benfica and Basel, last week he showed a glimpse of his superb aerial game.

De Gea is getting better, and he showed his true potential after his last minute save against Chelsea, which gave United the tie.

Jonathan Evans, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling have dealt in style with Nemanja Vidic’s absence. Meanwhile, Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs continue to control the midfield.

We've seen a better team so far, with way more understanding that in the first half of the season. A hectic schedule combined with injuries was not the ideal mix for Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad, but now things seem completely different.

From January, the team has only lost four points, against six the Citizens weren't been able to convert. Mancini has taken full responsibility for this; he acknowledged that the preparation hasn't been enough.

The Red Devils keep working toward the 20th title. Despite they’ll face eight teams from the half bottom of the table, which is a good opportunity to add points, they still have really tough matches, against Tottenham, Liverpool and City.

The Europa League meetings will also help United to continue strengthening its lines, which at the end will only make it a better and more organized team.

The competition is fierce, but if there’s something the Red Devils have shown throughout the years is that they have what it takes to win. Nineteen Premier league titles speak for themselves.