Manchester City: Why They're Going to Win the EPL, by a United Fan

As the proverb goes; You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

Excitingly for Man City fans (and unfortunately for United fans), Roberto Mancini has found a way to do just this. In simpler terms, Mancini has brought in some of the best players from around the world, and has got them playing well—and gelling together—as a cohesive unit.

Both United and City have had great starts to the season, both unbeaten in eight games, each scoring bags of goals in the process.

Despite both teams beginning the 2011-12 season in great form, in my opinion, United's start had been more impressive. Why? Because Man United had destroyed preseason title contenders Arsenal and Chelsea, while City were merely picking off relegation candidates such as Blackburn, Swansea and Wigan.

Naturally, like most other United fans, this gave me a lot of false confidence for the Manchester derby.

It was set to be perfect; United vs. City at Old Trafford—a chance for United to bring the noisy neighbours back down to earth with a bang. A chance for United to take another big scalp in their hunt for the Premiership title.

This was the 90 minutes that I had envisaged, but the 90 minutes that ensued were quite the opposite—as United were destroyed and humiliated.

City were genuinely terrifying to watch as they sliced open United's defence, making the champions look more Championship. City, plain and simply, outplayed and outclassed United.

While watching the match I was overcome with a terrible thought; could City really be the Premiership champions come May? Before my fellow United fans jump down my throat, let me explain.

City have assembled a fantasy team of players. Mancini has so many game changers in his squad, such as the goalscoring force of Dzeko and Aguero, supported by the creativity of Toure, Milner and David Silva. Lest we forget Joe Hart and Vincent Kompany, who have helped make the Etihad a fortress.

Starting from the back, City have a solid defence which has conceded the second least goals in the Premiership this season (behind Newcastle). This is partly the result of having Joe Hart between the sticks who, in my opinion, is the best goalkeeper in the Premiership right now.

Of course the defensive record isn't solely down to Joe Hart. Credit should also go to the back four of Richards, Kompany, Lescott and Clichy, who have not only been great in defence so far this season, but have also been confident going forward. They've amassed five assists between them so far, as well as a goal from Kompany against Aston Villa.

If City can continue this defensive form, it will be very difficult for most teams to get anymore than a draw against them.

Moving forward, City boasts two very creative midfielders in the form of James Milner and David Silva. Milner, in particular, has really put in some great performances in the past month, and was a menace at Old Trafford—assisting two of the goals as well as generally being a big attacking threat throughout. He is really establishing himself as one of the key players at Man City.

David Silva is a very special player indeed. In nine games this season he has scored three and assisted six. He's solidified himself as City's key playmaker, involving himself in almost every attacking movement which they throw forward.

One of Silva's key strengths is the way that he moves between the opposition defence and midfield, supplying the forwards from there.  He all-too-often proves too much of a handful for opposition defenders.

Silva is undoubtedly City's key player at the moment, and will be for the foreseeable future. I'd go out on a limb by saying he is one of the best players in the Premiership at the moment.

Finally, City has the perfect mix of attackers, in the tall and powerful Dzeko and Balotelli and the small and speedy Tevez and Aguero.

Mancini often picks a tall and a small player to start. So far this season that has often been Balotelli and Aguero or Dzeko and Aguero—due to Tevez's falling out with the management, accompanied by the fact that Aguero has been formidable since his arrival.

Dzeko in particular has really come into his own in the last nine games, which was encapsulated in his brace and assist in 20 minutes at Old Trafford.

The fact that City have so many quality players is also a great advantage. They have the ability to play two completely different teams, one for Premiership games and one for cup games. This means that (excluding a terrible injury crisis) they will always have fresh players to play for each game.

Their strength in depth is genuinely unbelievable, and they boast one of the most star-studded substitute benches in the world.

Is there anyone who can stop Man City this season? If they can keep up their current form then obviously not. However, to do that they will need to make sure that they don't become complacent against the lower teams, and continue to put in good performances against the bigger sides.

As a United fan I'd love nothing more than to see City to slip up but, looking at the evidence, it's difficult to see anything less than dominance from the blue half of Manchester this season.