Manchester United v Manchester City 1pm 10th May 2009

Manchester United vs Manchester City 13.30pm Premier League match 10th May
Anyone who watched the Red Devils demolish Arsenal on Tuesday night would be unlikely to bet against them doing the same against their local rivals. As well as all the emotions associated with the derby, this fixture is viewed as a bit of a grudge match by the United team due to losing to Manchester City both home and away last season. After beating City at Eastlands earlier this season, United undoubtedly want to do the same this year.

The spectacular Champions’ League result aside, Manchester United are in excellent form. Since losing two games in a row in March, they've won eight and drawn one in all competitions. In their last 5 games, all of which resulted in victory, Manchester United have have netted 13 goals.

Manchester City fans will point to the fact that they are also in form at the moment, having won three on the bounce. Victories over West Ham, Everton and Blackburn have left City in contention for possible entry into the Europa League. These fans will also be hoping that Robinho will demonstrate at Old Trafford the excellent form he is capable of. However as Tuesday showed, an in-form Manchester United has the ability to wipe the floor with even the best of teams. Mark Hughes’ best hope therefore is that with three big games in less than a week and with the Champions League final beckoning, Ferguson may want to rest some of his bigger names to minimise chances of injury. It is also worth noting, that although this would be anathema to the United fans, the Red Devils could look to play for a draw as they only need seven points from twelve to retain the Premiership title.

In terms of squad, Gary Neville has recovered from the foot injury that has kept him out for a month. Wes Brown (foot) is however out for the season, while Carlos Tevez, Dimitar Berbatov and Paul Scholes are available and hoping to start. For City, midfielder Shaun-Wright Phillips could miss out (ankle) although Pablo Zabaleta looks to have recoved from his hamstring injury.

It is difficult to see Man United not winning this with a thumping of City. Whilst considering the pace and skill of United’s squad, Mark Hughes’ words are correct but seem particularly understated "You have to work very hard if you want to beat United and your goalkeeper usually has to play very well.” This is however the Premiership and anything could happen!

Arsenal v Chelsea Premier League fixture 4pm 10th May 2009

Arsenal v Chelsea Premiership 4pm match

Although this match is a clash of 2 of the strongest teams in Europe, managed by 2 of the most respected managers in the modern game, there is a strong sense of anti-climax and disappointment surrounding the fixture. As all fans of football will be aware, both sides exited the Champions League earlier this week. Arsenal’s defence simply wasn’t good enough from the outset and they conceded 3 goals to Manchester United, Chelsea’s road to ruin was a lot more contentious involving questionable refereeing decision. However the end result for both teams was the same: disappointment, recriminations and no final in Rome. Prior to this week’s events both teams had also acknowledged they were also effectively out of the Premiership title race.

Both Hiddink and Wenger have however been quick to state that their teams have the strength of character to bounce back from the week’s disappointment and they will be keen to get a result as evidence of this. Arsenal also has the added incentive of potentially catching Chelsea in third place; currently 6 points separate the teams. Wenger has the home advantage over his Dutch rival, which Chelsea has never managed to overturn at the Emirates. The Gooners also have superior Premiership form within the elite 4 clique; they are to date unbeaten by the other 3 teams, including a victory at Stamford Bridge earlier this season, and could along with Liverpool do the double over the Blues. In contrast the only point Chelsea has won against top four opposition is courtesy of a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford on 21 September. Hiddink’s team will however take comfort from the fact that during their most recent encounter, Chelsea were victorious and knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup.

Unfortunately for the Gooners, Andrey Arshavin has not been able to train due to a virus and is therefore unavailable. Clichy (back), Eduardo (groin) and former Chelsea defender Gallas (knee) are also out for the rest of the season. Wenger will however almost certainly be demonstrating his confidence in Gibb, whose mid-week slip led to conceding the first goal against the Red Devils and effectively ended the contest, "The best thing to do in that situation sometimes is to give them straight away the chance again to play."

Chelsea are likely to be without Drogba after he picked up an ankle injury in the Champions League defeat and Joe Cole and Paulo Ferreira are out with knee ligament injuries.

Predicting the result for this afternoon’s clash is a difficult one; in the words of Wenger "[It] will be down to the team who deals best with the disappointment, who wants it more and who has more strength of character.” Let’s go with 2:2 for now then!!