Manchester United were held to yet another disappointing draw in the Premier League after they failed to beat Stoke City at the Britannia stadium.

United have been enjoying a great run of form in recent months, but this appears to be stuttering of late with the club’s third draw in the last four league matches. United could only manage a 0-0 draw against Tottenham in the previous match. Manager Louis van Gaal blamed the fixture congestion for the ineffective second-half performance against the North London outfit. The poor performance continued against Stoke after United created little opportunities throughout the 90 minutes.

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand thinks that England manager Roy Hodgson decided not to take Michael Carrick to the World Cup 2014 simply because of the poor form shown by United as a club. United finished in a lowly seventh place – the first time they finished in this position in the Premier League history – last season. This poor performance was largely the result of an underperforming midfield, although Carrick was one of the standout players.

Dutch national team manager Louis van Gaal has to the first time expressed his interest in becoming the Manchester United manager. He has become the firm favourite to take over from Ryan Giggs, who has been appointed on an interim basis. The experienced coach has seen success at various clubs in the past, but more importantly, he has managed top clubs like Barcelona and Bayern Munich. The lack of top-level experience was seen as one of the major reasons for the failure of David Moyes, who has sacked towards the end of the season.

Manchester United have given themselves a fighting chance of reaching the semifinals of the Champions League after a 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich in the first leg. In fact, United could have won the match had they been more clinical in finishing. Danny Welbeck had the best opportunity of the match, but his effort was saved by the Bayern Munich goalkeeper. In the absence of Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney continues to remain as the importance centre forward for United. However, he missed the weekend action due to a toe injury.

Manchester United have improved their medical facilities by installing aspects like new ultrasound, CT and MRI scanners at their training ground.

Manager David Moyes said that he is extremely pleased with the improvements made in this regard and he termed the club as having the best medical facilities of any club in the world. The medical systems have been provided by Toshiba, who are one of the numerous sponsors for the club. It has been a troubled period for Manchester United on the pitch, but Moyes will be hoping that this improvement helps him avoid injuries to key players.

Despite being eliminated from the FA Cup, losing against Sunderland in the 1st leg of the Capital One Cup and consistent run of poor performances, David Moyes says that he sudden change in Manchester United is not because of the changes in coaches and the Scottish tactician will not change what he has been doing since being appointed as the coach of the club.

“You continue to do what you have been doing. If you have to change it, it suggests you were doing the wrong things in the first place, but we are not and the things we have been doing are right. In management, you are going to lose games. I don’t know any manager who hasn’t lost games and you have to go through it at some point of your career’’.

Manchester city's most important game of the season will come this weekend when they play host to Manchester United at the Etihad stadium. The two archrivals will be meeting each other in what will be billed as the clash of the titans. City and United have won the last two Premier league titles and there will be no doubt that they will be once again competing for the title at the end of the season. Hence, this is going to be a six pointer in many ways according to City manager Manuel Pellegrini.

Manchester United are hoping that they will be able to reduce the number of injury problems that they have been suffering in recent seasons following the open of the new medical Centre. Manchester United have spent close to £ 15 million on the new medical Centre at the club's Carrington training ground. Manchester United have been one of the worst affected clubs in recent seasons in terms of the number of injuries. There have been many times during the last three seasons when Manchester United have been left with only one recognised defender at the back.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said that his team will certainly lose the chance to retain the title if they lose against Manchester City in the Manchester derby on Monday night.

Many have been predicting that this is the biggest Manchester derby of all time, as both teams will be coming into the match with an opportunity to win the title. It is more difficult for Manchester City because they have to win in order to have any chance of winning the title. However, even a draw is sufficient for Manchester United, as they will be heading into the remaining two matches with a three-point advantage.