Sweet revenge will drive United

The Premier League,apparently, isn’t the only table Manchester clubs have been competing over lately.

Quite close to the clubs’ separate training bases in Carrington, there is a café that players and staff of both United and City like to frequent. And, over the last few years, there has been an unsaid acceptance that, well, one corner is red and the other blue.

Except, at one point last season, a significant City employee decided to go against diplomacy and occupy United’s area. It was seen as another little mind game, another small but significant statement.

It may seem petty but, in this derby, such things have tended to add up to something much bigger. Because of the generally pronounced positions and extremes of the two clubs, actual wins have often been second to the sense of oneupmanship. The sides have either been so far apart that respective successes and failures have coincided, or much too close for both to be comfortable.

And, after the takeover of City, all of that escalated alongside the number of zeroes in their bank account. United, of course, initially responded in the best manner possible: with a series of late winners from 2009 through to 2011.

Until last season when it all came together for City. They didn’t just consistently better United; they embarrassed them in every way possible. First, they provided a 6-1 thrashing enhanced by so many ironic late goals. Second, they comprehensively beat them 1-0 with a performance that arguably exceeded the October game in terms of dominance if not goals. Finally, they toyed with United’s emotions by letting them back into top spot on the final day before stealing it with the most momentous — and United-like — of stoppage-time strikes.

Certainly, Alex Ferguson’s side have a lot to make up for tomorrow and won’t want for motivation. They’ll be driven to make amends.

It’s possible, however, that they’ve already delivered the most important riposte. Because, after a period in which City seemed to be on a different level to United in terms of market power, after an offer of €370,000 a week and after even showing him around their training ground, it remains intriguing that Robin van Persie turned down such overtures from Eastlands to choose Old Trafford.

At the moment, in fact, it’s said to be impossible to wipe the smile off his face at training. Ultimately, the romantic in Van Persie was swayed by that very history which saw United on top for so long. It remains the one thing City can’t account for. Van Persie, however, can account for an awful lot. That’s just as well.

Because, despite the big statement the striker represented, it’s still somewhat surprising Ferguson so tenaciously targeted him. Although United ultimately lost the league on goal difference, the fact they scored 89 goals in 38 games indicated the problems were elsewhere, not least in the spine of the team. In contrast to the champions, Ferguson’s side seemed to lack overall balance, as well as presence in the middle — with that particularly illustrated by City’s 1-0 win in May. It has only been emphasised, in the meantime, by the amount of goals United have conceded this season. Ferguson is understood to have finally accepted the issue and is looking into potential January reinforcements.

The only thing is that, so far, none of it has really mattered. Going into the derby, United are top of the table. And much of that has been down to Van Persie. The striker has so far hit a hugely impressive six match-winners for United, directly contributing 12 points.

That only follows last season, in which his goals specifically ensured an extra 27 points for Arsenal — the third finest such return in Premier League history after Alan Shearer in 1993-’94 and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2007-’08. But it’s not that Van Persie scores when he wants; it’s that he scores when he’s needed.

You only have to look at Arsenal’s current position in contrast to last season to see how much he covered and he might just be doing the same for United. If not even more, according to Ferguson, whose counter-intuition has so far paid off on multiple levels.

“I really think Robin van Persie is not only contributing to the team himself but improving players around him. He has given us a different perspective,” he said.

He’s also given them a different mentality. Given the history of this fixture, as well as the most recent derbies, that may well be even more important than his goals. City will have to prove Van Persie made the wrong choice, and top the only table that matters.