Thursday 29 October 2015 15:21, UK
Graeme Souness will be at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon as part of a huge Super Sunday triple bill, featuring derby clashes in the North East and Manchester, plus Jurgen Klopp's first home league game in charge of Liverpool. Read on for our expert's analysis…
Manchester United v Manchester City
Manchester City are my tip to win the title this year because I think they have got the strongest group in the Premier League.
Kevin de Bruyne is a great signing for them and will only get better and, even though David Silva and Sergio Aguero are huge misses, I still fancy them to win this game.
I'm a fan of Wilfried Bony, who has now been at the club for 10 months and his career hasn't really started there. If he gets a run of games he will do very well for City; he's no Aguero, but he's a very clever player who would be a regular starter in almost all of the other Premier League teams.
I think Manchester United have surprised themselves with their league position because they haven't been playing great football. To their credit, they have been digging results out and the manager and his staff will be saying 'just wait until we start playing well'.
They have shown a dogged determination and desire to win games without playing the kind of football you normally associate with Man United. It has been a bit of a grind for them and if they continue to show that never-say-die between now and the end of the season then of course they are title challengers.
However, I feel that City, with the outstanding quality they have in every position, are better equipped than anyone else this year.
Of course, in a derby game you never know but I like to attach some logic to football like this: if you were to pick a team from the 22 players that start, how many Man United players would get into that team?
Even with Aguero and Silva injured there wouldn't be many…
Liverpool v Southampton
I'm sure Jurgen Klopp has quickly realised he's working for a very special football club.
I know Borussia Dortmund was a big club in Germany, but Liverpool are truly a big club on the world stage and I think even he will be taken aback by the extreme passion that the supporters feel for that football club.
What are the expectations on Liverpool and Klopp? I don't think anybody expects them to win the title this season, but they would expect to get back into a Champions League place - and I don't think that's impossible.
He needs to get more from the current squad than Brendan Rodgers got in the last year, plus he will be looking to bring two or three of his own men in during the transfer window.
Klopp has worked at the highest level for a number of years and has been successful. Despite that, there will have to be a learning period because it is accepted throughout the world game that our football is quite different. He will need time to adjust to those differences.
In my experience, the big clubs abroad get an easier ride against the lesser clubs. In our league nobody rolls over and you face a physical encounter from the first minute to the last. He'll see that on Sunday because Southampton have done quite remarkably under Ronald Koeman, especially when you consider the number of players that have left them in the last couple of years.
However, I can only see Liverpool winning given the momentum that is with them.
Sunderland v Newcastle
This is a big game for the people of the North East.
It's doesn't come anywhere near the Rangers v Celtic or Fenerbahce v Galatsaray derbies I have been involved in, but it's a big derby game between two teams who aren't where they want to be right now.
Both teams look set for a hard slog for the rest of the season and Sam Allardyce and Steve McClaren have a big task on their hands to get the best out of their players and ensure the squads have the togetherness that is needed to stay up.
When things don't go well, players look at the man sitting next to them instead of looking in the mirror and saying 'maybe I can do a bit more'. Both of those managers have a very hard job to achieve that because they will be flirting with the bottom three for most of the season, I feel.
The two teams are not playing with a great deal of confidence, but after beating Norwich 6-2, Newcastle will think they have turned the corner. For the first time this year, their supporters enjoyed their weekend and the players emerged with credit.
Sunderland failed to get the bounce from a new manager at West Brom last week and will be hoping it starts this weekend.
It looks like common sense for them to get a manager like Allardyce, who is battle hardened in the Premier League. He's not everybody's cup of tea in the way he tries to play football, but he has a great in-depth knowledge of this league and there won't be any surprises for him every weekend. He knows he's got a big job on because a succession of managers have found life very tough at the Stadium of Light.
With all of that in mind, I might sit on the fence on this one and call it a draw between two nervous teams.
