United keep pressure on City ahead of busy month of action ...

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In this festive update, we look forward to the New Year and assess the champions recent improvement on the pitch as well as United's prospects of retaining the title.

United have been in fine festive form scoring 10 goals without reply. Fulham were the first to be dispatched at Craven Cottage, where the champions ran out comfortable five-nil

Reds back on track, as transfer talk erupts.....

United played more like the United we know and love at Loftus Road on Sunday, the champions ran out 2-0 winners and deservedly so. Wayne Rooney opened the scoring with an early headed goal from an Atonio Valencia cross from the right. Michael Carrick sealed the victory with an all too rare solo goal in the second-half following a 50 yard run at the Rangers defence.

It was Carrick's first goal

United to step-up search for Ferguson's replacement?....We give our verdict on the names in the frame...

At the time of posting, Manchester United are currently five points behind leaders Manchester City in the Premier League. The gap between first and second placed club isn't unbridgeable, but City have the added advantage of a huge goal difference and truth be told, even at this relatively early stage of the season, they have the look of champions about them.

Not entirely unexpectedly, United and

Abject United lurching towards crisis: No defence for De Gea, Rooney and Ferguson as sorry Reds crash out of Champions League...

Not for the first time this season, Manchester United pressed the self-destruct button in Europe when losing 2-1 against Basel in Switzerland last night, a result which sees the champions dropping into the Europa League. It is nothing short of an unmitigated disaster for Ferguson, his players and the club. On a purely commercial level, United will be left to count the cost of lost TV revenues; on

City v United in the FA Cup: It's the worst draw possible for Ferguson...

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Manchester United haven't been the same team since the derby. The early season swagger, attacking play and flair that saw the champions serge to the summit of the Premier League seems like a distant memory. City currently lead United by five points, that and a massive goal difference. In terms of style and approach, City are playing a calculated

Another "wake-up call" for Fergie, as Palace dump sorry Reds out of Carling Cup...

Crystal Palace deservedly dumped Manchester United out of the Carling Cup at Old Trafford last night. The performance and the result was hugely disappointing from a Red perspective and for the second time in recent weeks Ferguson was left apologising to the fans.

The United manager described last month's 6-1 derby thrashing as a "wake-up call". Following the Palace defeat last night, Ferguson

Fergie to give Morrison and Pogba their chances knowing he risks losing both this summer?

Manchester United are in action on Wednesday night at Old Trafford in the quarter finals of the Carling Cup, where they will face Crystal Palace.

It's always quite difficult to gauge how seriously Ferguson takes the once maligned Carling Cup - a competition that has risen slightly above the level of joke status in recent seasons. In the last round, United travelled to Aldershot - it was the

Another win, another totally uninspiring United performance...

Manchester United were in action at the Liberty Stadium yesterday and for the third league game on the spin it finished up one-nil to the champions. Javier Hernandez grabbed another poachers goal just ten minutes into the game with help from Ryan Giggs and a howler of a mistake by Angel Rangel, who gifted United's midfield veteran possession on the edge of the Swansea penalty area. Giggs

Message to Fergie: Forget about City and concentrate on Manchester United...

Manchester United may well have won every game since that embarrassing 6-1 derby thrashing - but the quality of the football has been very poor by the champions standards. One cannot help but feel that Ferguson is reassessing United's tactics and formation in the wake of that comprehensive defeat. United have played two league games since the derby, there was no wingers in the team that started

Post 6-1: Fergie facing biggest challenge of his 25 years at United.....

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Every football pundit in the land might well be talking about Fergie's glorious 25 years in charge of the champions, but for many of the followers of United and especially City, the events of the most recent Manchester derby are still reverberating around the city and its suburbs.

United fans wanted to move on as quickly as possible and they also

Will City mauling bring about changes at United? Fans will want to see a reaction and an apology ...

Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson finally ran out of luck today at Old Trafford in the worst possible manner and as far as the fans are concerned against the worst possible opponents, neighbours Manchester City. United lost 6-1, yes, that's right, six bloody one. It is the biggest home defeat since 1926 when the blues repeated that scoring feat.

The final scoreline and especially the

The derby: Everyone talking about City, but United can come out on top, but only if the team defends properly...

IF Rooney scores against City - Money Back Special from Paddy Power

Sunday's Manchester derby has added significance as City are playing really well and they are the current league leaders. Fergie has finally acknowledged that Manchester City along with Chelsea, are a major threat to United's domestic dominance.

United are of course at home where they have a superb record at Old Trafford, but

Neville reveals Fergie's secrets as unconvincing champions prepare for City...

IF Rooney scores against City - Money Back Special from Paddy Power

United were in action on Tuesday night in Bucharest in a vital Champions League Group C fixture against Otelul Galati, Wayne Rooney grabbed the headlines with a brace from the penalty spot as the Reds ran out 2-0 winners. Rooney has of course been at the centre of media attention for the wrong reasons over the last two weeks

Rooney's red card for England: Every cloud has a silver lining....

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Wayne Rooney has been grabbing the headlines for the wrong reasons since he was sent-off in Podgorica on Friday night. Referee Wolfgang Stark had no alternative but to wave a red card in the direction of Rooney in the 74th minute, for what was a reckless challenge on Miodrag Dzudovic.

As a result of the dismissal, UEFA are likely to give Rooney a

Wayne Rooney: You cannot defend the undefendable...

Wayne Rooney has been absolutely superb this season for Manchester United, he is the Premier League's top goalscorer with nine goals. However, he was sent-off while playing for England last night in a Euro 2012 qualifier. It is the second time Rooney has been sent-off while playing for his country. In the wake of that early bath and in time honoured tradition, predictably, the press have savaged

The continual character assassination of Carlos Tevez is pointless: Time to move on for United fans.

Why is it that many football fans become all bitter and twisted when a star play leaves your club? For the uninitiated casual observer sitting on the sidelines, it might be a fair question to ask,  because in just about every other walk of life, we tend to remember the good times and we try not to dwell on events that we'd rather forget. Part of the problem is that accepted normal behaviour goes